Empower Managers to Embrace Organizational Change

Do Your Managers Have the Skill Set to Implement Organizational Change?

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “There is nothing permanent except change.” That’s a sentiment that nearly everyone in every organization can identify with at some point!

In today’s business environment, the pace of change has continued to increase. And chances are, things won’t slow down. The complexity of our organizations has only increased with many going to remote work and it’s unlikely that businesses will look the same for some time to come.

Keep this in mind: the people in your organization not only are the ones who will implement the change, but they will be most affected by those changes as well. Effective organizational change management can be intimidating to many people. This is especially true of the managers tasked to see that the day-to-day details are successfully implemented.

Organizational Change Brings New Opportunities

Along with the inevitable changes that are needed to keep your business relevant, there are opportunities. Helping your managers to develop crucial skills will allow them to expand their capabilities as emerging leaders for their teams.

It’s simply human nature for teams to support a project when they have had a hand in creating the plan. Whether it is small, incremental steps, or a major transformation of the company, it’s vital to get everyone engaged in the effort of a change management initiative.

To make the organizational change management process more productive, there are some critical skill areas to focus on to ensure leaders and managers have what they need to succeed.

Successfully Implementing Change in Your Organization

One of the smartest things senior leadership can do is assign the right manager to the right job. It’s a key to motivation and top performance. After all, managers are the people who will get the steps done to implement the changes in the organization.

Help your managers embrace organizational change by ensuring they can develop these skills or have support in these areas:

• Effective communication: Managers need the ability to effectively communicate and listen. Communication, as the old saying goes, is a two-way street, so listening well is also vital. These skills are needed at all stages of change management.
• Leadership skills: Being open to change with an innovation mindset and offering a clear vision can help managers succeed.
• Emotional intelligence: Being able to understand your own emotions as well as the emotions of others, is vital to getting the team motivated and engaged.
• Clear expectations: When addressing change, a manager needs to have clear goals and directives so that they feel confident on what to communicate to their direct reports.
• Sufficient internal resources: A manager thrives as an emerging change leader when they have the internal resources for implementing each step—such as access to training and the support of their manager.

With proper planning and the right skill sets in place, teams can improve their ability to work through the adversity and uncertainty of change.

In the greater scheme of change management, everyone in the organization will have an important role to play. By empowering your managers as emerging leaders to shape the change process, you can focus on advancing the company vision knowing the change process is in good hands.

Photo by Alex Shutin on Unsplash