Organisational Transformation – Can People Really Change?
Can people really change? This fundamental question lies at the heart of every organisational transformation. Shifting an organisation’s
deeply ingrained beliefs, values, and behaviours requires a profound shift in individual mindsets.
From my experience, top-down culture change initiatives based simply on new policies, processes, and training programs are doomed to failure.
To help you avoid disaster, here are some important insights and approaches that have enabled people to make a step change in thinking and behaviour as part of a successful organisational change.
Critical Insights and Approaches
Here are some important insights and approaches that have enabled people I have worked with to make a step change in thinking and behaviour as part of a successful organisational change. These take time and considerable effort to put into practice, but without them you risk disaster.
- Do your homework. Understand current behaviours, habits and routines. Why are they important to people and what are the underlying needs and motivations that drive them?
- Recognise that the Culture Change and Practice Change (changes to systems, processes, jobs, structures etc.) are one entity. Neither works on their own.
- Help people explore why the status quo is no longer tenable and identify what needs to change to safeguard future success. This is best done through structured dialogue in groups, so everyone ends up on the same page without being ‘told’ what to do.
- Help people see change as an evolutionary process that respects heritage and builds on past achievements whilst helping to secure a sustainable future.
- Embed new routines to replace old ones, so people don’t slide back into habitual ways of doing things.
- Recognise that ‘go live’ for new systems and process is just the first step in putting change into practice. Support, coach and reenforce change until the new ways are locked in.
- Implement other best practice approaches to change management such as clarity of Vision, a campaign of two-way communication, leading by example, transparent improvement metrics, and engaging stakeholders.
Conclusion
Can People Really Change? Transformational change requires patience, persistence, and strong commitment to supporting individuals as they shift their ways of thinking and behaving. Applying proven insights and approaches that go far beyond training allow you to avoid the common pitfalls and to succeed where others have failed.
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