Anne's Column - They Just Don't Get It

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In this article Anne discusses how important it is to be able to communicate change messages to your team. Anne will be leading the Communicating the Change Message workshop at the HRINZ national conference in September.

"They just don't get it!"

I've heard this plaintive refrain from several managers and change project leaders in recent months. Like the private sector CEO who said he had told staff throughout the year how the company was performing, so "the restructuring shouldn't be a surprise". And the public sector manager who complained irritably that staff wanted to "personalise everything and can't see that change is just an inevitable fact of life around here".

Maybe it's these managers who "just don't get it." Had they been fully focussed on the process of communicating the change message they could have picked up the staff sub-text: "I don't get it, I don't like it, and I don’t trust you".

Even successful change efforts are messy and full of surprises. But just as a relatively simple vision is needed to guide people through a major change, so effective planning for the change process itself can reduce the error rate. And fewer errors can spell the difference between success and failure. I believe that change planning must include as much care and attention to communication as that given to the rest of the project.

"I don't get it"

Jeanie Duck, author of The Change Monster, has some sound advice: "Interpret what's going on for people and explain what it means for them in specific concrete terms". Managers need to move from focussing on the organisation’s viewpoint to focussing on their staff's viewpoint when planning any change announcement.

Forget the corporate speak. Watch the language used: "The current market conditions and the impact of the current exchange rate of the New Zealand dollar necessitate a tighter control on all aspects of the business in coming months" doesn't actually say a lot even if it is repeated in staff newsletters throughout the year. As author and researcher Jim Collins says in Good to Great, "tell it like it is, give the brutal facts of the reality". How much more effective the announcement quoted above would be when rephrased as "Profits have dived, we are not selling enough product and we may have to lay off people." Harsh perhaps, but then so is major change!

"I don't like it"

Talk to staff who have been affected by organisational change and you will hear most of their complaints come not from the proposed change itself, but rather from the way the message has been given. Their anxieties are also likely to come from what has not been said.

"The hardest part has been that I agree in principle with what management are doing. But I resent being told not to take it personally. Of course it is personal to me, this is my job and income, my future that is affected", a young woman told me recently. "They've treated me like a number, not a person and I'm blowed if I'm just going to lie down and take it". This woman was an acknowledged leader among her peers and management had just blown the opportunity to recruit a positive advocate for the proposed change.

If managers focus on what their staff need to hear, rather than focussing on their own message, they are more likely to move beyond data, analysis and reasons for the change and factor in feelings as well as thinking.

At another major change announcement for a private sector client, an HR representative attended the meeting. Her role was restricted to handing out a two-page paper giving advice on dealing with stress - a good idea in theory but the timing was all wrong. "I don't give a damn about breathing exercises, I do give a damn about what's going to happen to me and my family", fumed one employee while his colleagues showered the room in paper darts made from the handout.

People need time to absorb the change message. Of course EAP-type support is important but time any offer such as stress management or outsourced career services for when the initial reaction has abated - remember people need to deal with feelings before they can listen to the facts. Stop trying to sell the change message and work towards understanding rather than necessarily agreement at first.

And you may well need to be flexible with your timing. Each person will listen to the change message through their own set of listening filters, shaped by their personality preferences, life experiences, their age or family circumstances for example.

"I don't trust you"

Who is going to deliver the change message? Much has been researched and written about source credibility - the extent in which someone is willing to listen and give credence to the message they are hearing. In others words, if I don't believe in the messenger I won't believe the message.

In the interests of consistency, major change announcements are often made by the CEO in a global way. Yet often this person does not have a personal relationship with the staff they are addressing. I believe it is far better that an employee hears directly from their immediate manager where the chances of trust already existing are much higher. It is not an easy task but middle managers and team leaders can be supported and coached through the process.

Don't forget the Greek Chorus that is likely to be at work. Its members will include the cynics who have been through change before, the HR Bush Lawyers ("my sister-in-law's neighbour's son used to work in HR and he says...") and the usual office grapevine. All can undermine a manager's credibility if not successfully managed.

No matter how often it happens, change should never be considered Business As Usual. Communicating through the change process is also not Business As Usual - it takes planning and careful attention to process as well as content. HR can have an important role to play, adding value by moving beyond the traditional focus on employment agreements and legal process to supporting and coaching both managers and staff.

Anne McLaughlin is a senior partner at Nexus Partners Limited, a New Zealand-based leadership development consultancy. Anne will be leading the Communicating the Change Message workshop at the HRINZ national conference in September.

Do you want to ensure that your team get the change message? For more information about Nexus Partners' leadership programmes, email us or call on 0800 4 LEADERS. More information is also available here.