Meaning
In
today's organizational climate where globalization is practically
inherent within every department, one's actions can resonate a great
distance causing systemic ripples that can change behaviors,
attitudes, production, and a bottom line. We all touch each others
lives at many levels, and an organization's leadership needs to know
how to influence, tweak and adjust, inspire, prepare and envision how
they will incorporate effective change.
When an
organization looks to make changes, leadership may become too focused
on task related items, structural adjustments, and system over-hauls
to assist in preparedness. Also, there will be some financial
transactions, administrative enhancements, management meetings and
legal concerns to accompany and support the change process. However,
an organization's change leadership would do well to consider the
needs and expectations of it's employees, and how the changes may
effect them. Depending on what, how, when and why the changes will
occur, may make all the difference between successful implementation,
and failure.
Helping employees to become part of the change process, and keeping them informed of changes to come, does nothing for their buy-in to accepting, or better yet, desiring the changes to come. People want to know what is in it for them, and how the changes will effect their position, production, location, value, time, and environmental resources. Changes are perceived as unfair by people if it has adverse consequences for them and they have little or no influence over decisions about the changes (Yukl, 2013). It will be upon change leadership to diplomatically introduce the conceptual changes well in advance to provide time for employees to consider and understand what the changes will mean to them. Fostering an environment of team work and self-management through transparent, honest, and timely communication, will help initiate change implementation. Managing expectations and tending to the needs and concerns of the employees will go far at the group level, as well as on an individual level.
I recall
being in my second platoon, relatively still a new guy, and not being
kept informed of a number of training requirements that would replace
our current schedule at the time. After being told from a peer during
a side bar that our range week was getting replaced with a brief that
was not related to our upcoming deployment, I remember feeling that
an entire week was going to be wasted. In time, our deployment was
cancelled. However, we continued training. By this time, many of us
were not sure why we were still traveling away from our families to
train for a deployment we were no longer going on. It was easy to see
how some of the guys relaxed, and joked around more often. The
exercises we conducted appeared to have little to no meaning at all.
The deployment we were scheduled for gave us our reason and purpose
for training.
An
employee needs to know why they are doing what they are doing. What
is the purpose of the change? What meaning does the changes hold for
the employee(s)? If there is nothing to work towards, an employee may
become disenchanted, unmotivated, disillusioned, and disengaged.
Change leadership must effectively communicate a refreshed vision as
to why the change, looking to inspire new meaning into the group's,
as well as the individual's work. In turn, this meaning will provide
the employees a value-related direction. When leaders help shape a
vision that is engaging to others, weave stories that help people
make sense of the past and imagine the future, and who tap into the
desires and values of individuals engage people's hearts as well as
their heads and hands (Ulrich & Ulrich, 2010).
References:
Ulrich,
D., & Ulrich, W. (2010, June 2). Leadership:
Getting beyond engagement to creating meaning at work. Retrieved
from https://hbr.org/2010/06/getting-beyond-engagement-to-c.
Yukl,
G. A. (2013). Leadership in organizations
(8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
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