As we’ve seen throughout the Covid 19 pandemic, sometimes being able to improve your business processes based on previous ways of working isn’t effective, meaning you need to fundamentally change and pivot to progress.
To do this successfully, you need to take your entire organisation along with you. This can be a scary time for employees and the best way to bring them along is to purposefully build a change-resilient culture that thrives on challenge. Here are some of the best tips we can give you on embracing change:
Focus on the ‘Why’
Everyone in the business needs ownership and employees need to understand your ‘why?’ - as in ‘why do we exist?’. This will form the key narrative so employees feel grounded and see changes as part of the fundamental story of the business.
Show your commitment to change
Lead by example. What are you personally going to do to prove your commitment to change? This builds your credibility and shows your intent.
Look for the next step
Never rest on your laurels as the business world is constantly changing. Always look for a better way to do things that will ensure your success.
Underline the constants
Lots can change within businesses and it certainly has over the past few months, but it can be reassuring to employees that some things will remain the same, so celebrate and embrace them.
Expect (some) failure
You and your employees will fail at times. That’s OK. You need to make sure that everyone in the business knows this so it creates an environment where everyone is learning and motivated to improve.
Ask!
Ask your employees how you can improve. What can you change? What can you do better? Listen to the results of surveys and put plans in place to address any shortcomings. People will respect you for working on this.
Give ownership of the result
How your employees get the job done isn’t as important as the result. Let them find their own way and support them in this.
Encourage idea sharing
This is huge. Communication is key in business and it helps if employees feel empowered to share ideas and collaborate in their own ways.
Encourage ‘play’
Celebrate experimentation. There are thousands of ways to do things better in your business and your employees know the answers. Put some dedicated time in the diary with your employees for innovation.
Reward Innovation
Competitive advantage comes from innovation and it’s your job to motivate your employees to make this part of their day-to-day experience. One way to encourage this is to reward innovative ideas.
If you’d like to find out how we can help your business to embrace change, get in touch today or call 01252 618400 to see how we can work with you on providing learning that works for your teams.
In addition to face to face courses, we can deliver our interactive sessions via webinar, which incorporate a mix of facilitator input, group discussion and break-out activities to enable participant interaction and engage staff effectively.
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