23 Mar Can our Employees really embrace Workplace Change?
“Our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits”
– William James, American philosopher and psychologist, 1892
Learned and repetitive behaviours form the cornerstone of our individual routines, seamlessly shaping and informing day-to-day actions in our personal lives, as well as within the workplace.
With habitual behaviour so deeply ingrained in our very neurology, how can we successfully move employees to internalize and embrace organizational change?
One thing is for certain. Combating ingrained behavioural traits with shock announcements or aggressive ‘do-or-die’ ultimatums will do little to move you closer to your goal of holistic change adoption. Nor will these tactics foster trust, or relieve growing tensions in the lead up to what is often considered a threat to the safety of routine.
Focus on the Why not the What
Where hierarchical organisations may have previously bullied an unsupported workforce, newly independent and multi-faceted workforces are no longer content with the ‘What’ of change. They are asking for the ‘Why’.
Understanding the change effect on the individual is imperative in countering pattern-thinking and initiating acceptance. Striking examples of this marketing revolution exist in the widespread success of campaigns such as anti-smoking and community recycling.
Change Transcends
Change transcends the cognitive and becomes an individual reality through messages demonstrating a connection to personal accountability and individual gain. For example, comprehension of the personal effect of a global environmental catastrophe, or of a devastating illness, has resulted in widescale success for both the recycling and non-smoking campaigns respectively.
Repetitively reinforcing the ‘Why’ message cultivates trust in our audience and builds acceptance of the reasoning behind the change. Using this smart approach, organisations may find their strongest resistors transformed into their most ardent Change Champions.
Travis Foster, Principal
