Four Ways to Keep Your Employees Focused and Committed to Change
Catalogers who are looking for ways to make changes at their companies and want to get the full support of employees need to avoid what one management professional calls “the commitment dip.”
A new research report by New York-based OnPoint Consulting gives managers tips on how to avoid the commitment dip so a company can not only launch changes but also keep employees engaged so that the action plan is carried out successfully.
Richard Lepsinger, president of OnPoint Consulting, says the survey found that if an organization doesn’t take measures to get a faltering change initiative back on track within one to three months, it wouldn’t achieve its full potential. Here are four ways to keep your employees on track during a change initiative:
1. Encourage discussion. Don’t be hesitant to talk with the employees and to give them as much information about the change you want to implement, including the pros and cons. The OnPoint survey found workers want their bosses to be as upfront as possible with them and keep the lines of communication open.
2. Reach out to the middle managers. Lepsinger says the top-performing companies are the ones that maintain and even increase middle management’s role while implementing changes.
3. Set realistic goals. If employees feel overwhelmed or pressed for time in trying to reach certain milestones, they’ll lose enthusiasm for the project. “Targeting unattainable goals certainly isn’t going to speed up your successes,” Lepsinger says. “If anything, it will frustrate and demoralize employees during those first few critical months, and the time and energy you’ve spent preparing for the change will have been a mistake.” Keep them on target and motivated by offering rewards for meeting milestones.
4. Give them enough resources. Underestimating what it will take to make a successful change is a primary case of failure, Lepsinger notes. “Eighty-two percent of the people at top performing organizations we surveyed said that the availability of adequate resources is a key element in successfully achieving change objectives,” he says. “Without the proper resources, your employees will quickly become frustrated.”
For more information about the OnPoint Consulting survey, visit www.onpointconsultingllc.com .
