Tag: Change Management

In business and in life, change is inevitable. To stay competitive, companies must learn how to adapt continuously. With technology evolving faster than ever before, the pressure to keep up with the rate of change is enormous. 

As an IT leader, you have a vested interest in transformation within your company and make it happen with the implementation of new technology. Perhaps you’ve done your vetting and are ready to move forward with a particular system. The question is—are your people ready? 

According to McKinsey & Company, 70% of organizational change initiatives fail.

Why, exactly? 

We sat down with Norrene Duffy, subject matter expert within 3Ci’s Organizational Change Management consulting practice, to get some answers.

First of all, why is organizational change so necessary in today’s business environment?
The way we’re choosing the technologies we invest in is changing. The days when we were buying new software packages customized to the way we do business have come and gone. Now, we’re buying best practices. In order to best utilize these new applications, employees are required to change the way they work. And that takes some, well, work. 

Whether it’s a new ERP, CRM, or any other system that crosses over divisions within an organization, getting your people to act as a unified force throughout a change initiative can be a challenge.

Why are so many organizational change initiatives failing?
That entirely depends on how you define failure. In some cases, the ROI that was expected is not realized. In other cases, the software never goes live. Other times, businesses shy away from modernizing at all because they’re intimidated. Most of the time, a “failure” in change management means the people within an organization who need to adapt to a new environment or technology don’t do so successfully. 

The fact of the matter is—if your people aren’t ready for the change that’s occurring, there’s a good chance your technology implementation will be deemed a failure.

Just like project management, successful organizational change management is methodological in nature. Too many IT leaders today assume that as long as they communicate what is going on, all will be okay and the effort will be a success. There’s much more to it than that. Organizational change management is more than just communications. Successful change management stems from an understanding that, in order for people to change, they must: know what’s happening, want to change, know how to change, be able to change, and exist in an environment that reinforces that change. 

What should companies in the midst of major change focus on first and foremost?
The research is clear—the number one success factor for change is active and visible leadership. You can’t bring someone from the outside to influence your people. That’s a leader’s job. But 3Ci can help support leaders through change and offer a roadmap to be visible in their sponsorship of change.

You need stakeholders within your organization to serve as the face of change, but sometimes, they need help knowing exactly how to do that.

The same goes for managers and supervisors. These are the people with the most immediate knowledge about how an employee’s future world will be different from their current work. They are a critical piece of the change puzzle and need help understanding how to engage their teams and promote change through go-live and beyond.

What do you wish today’s IT leaders knew about organizational change?
That they don’t have to do it alone. There are people out there who specialize in these time-tested methodologies who can help you realize the ROI on your new technology, reduce the amount of noise, confusion, disillusionment, and resistance of your people throughout the change process, lower your risk of losing valuable people within your organization, and increase your chances of successfully adopting new technology within your organization.

If you’re going through a medium to large scale system implementation that impacts the way people work, don’t go at it alone. Whether you want to build an OCM practice in-house or are looking to outsource the project entirely, 3Ci can help. We guide our clients through pivotal transformations using best practices in change management and organizational readiness. 

You can learn more about 3Cis’ Organizational Readiness and Change Management services right here. 

Looking for ways to let your employees or coworkers know that you appreciate them? Good! If this is not already standard practice within your company, it should be. Letting your team know that you recognize their efforts and are thankful for what they do promotes bottom line results and, more importantly, your employees’ well-being. 

In honor of Thanksgiving week, here is a guest blog post about ways to express gratitude every day from our friends at MAU.

What is Gratitude?

Gratitude is defined as the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful. Gratitude is a fundamental connection that holds the bonds of our social fabric together. Acts of gratitude not only positively impact our mental health, but they also help to build and fortify our relationships with other people.

The benefits of daily acts of  gratitude occur at both a mental and physical level. Studies show that acknowledging what you are thankful for and in turn, acting on those feelings of gratitude, can not only make you happier, but actually help to boost your immune system. This holiday season, you can truly put the “Happy” in, “Happy Holidays.” Try practicing these daily acts of gratitude in your workplace and beyond!

Daily Acts of Gratitude:

If you’re not sure where to begin in your quest to add daily acts of gratitude to your lifestyle, check out these easy, yet powerful, ways to display your thankfulness. It’s as easy as one, two, three. Or, acknowledge, reciprocate, and celebrate.

Often times, we forget to do the little things. Something as simple as acknowledging that you are grateful for someone or something can have a positive impact. It is also one of the easiest daily activities to help you show your gratitude. Here are a few easy ways to acknowledge people in your workplace and everyday life. 

• Verbally, say thank you when someone does something helpful
• Compliment them on a specific skill or personality trait you admire
• Look them in the eyes when communicating. It is a simple act that helps to show that you are fully present in your interactions

Reciprocation is a great way to show gratitude that doesn’t take much creativity. You simply return the same kind act that was done to you. For example, if a co-worker assists you with a task or project, you can do the same for them. Similarly, if someone treats you to a meal, you can return the favor by opting to pay for the meal the next time you dine together.

The celebration of another is perhaps the most common or popular act of gratitude someone can display. The celebration of another manifests in many different forms. Celebration as an act of gratitude can be shown through public proclamation, observation, or gift giving. Here are a few ways you can celebrate another as a way to show thanks.

• Publicly recognize the deed
• Commemorate the moment or deed with a special gathering
• Give a gift of gratitude
• handwritten note
• flowers
• food

Remembering to perform these simple acts in your daily life will help you lead a life of gratitude everyday. Begin to positively impact your mental health and build and fortify your relationships inside and out of the workplace.

This post was originally published on the MAU blog right here.

The business world is facing an epidemic in employee burnout, and it’s wreaking havoc on productivity and profitability. Burnout impairs job performance, increases healthcare costs, destroys employee retention rates, and impacts team morale. Many studies correlate employee burnout with stress, but the underlying root of that stress goes beyond simply having too much on your to-do list.

Most Employee Retention Problems Are Conative

In Conative Connection: Acting on Instincts, author Kathy Kolbe attributes burnout to conative mismatches: “Meltdown occurs when people who know perfectly well who they are suffer from unrealistic external, rather than self-imposed, pressure to act otherwise.” This incongruity can exist between managers and employees, people and industries, newly merged leadership, the next generation and their founders. In short, burnout is the result of trying to squeeze a square object into a round hole.

While many personality assessments focus on how you think or feel, Kolbe Indexes measures your instinctive way of doing things. Results are broken down into four Action Modes: Fact Finder, Follow Thru, QuickStart, and Implementer. All-too-often, we place employees into certain roles based on their personality. For example, a hiring manager assumes that an extroverted individual would be the most likely to win the sale. In reality, a person’s conative leanings, not personality, may be a better indicator of success in specific roles.

“Companies lose out on needed talent when they treat people as robots — “things” with no conative instinct.”

Here are just a few of the breakdowns that can occur when each Action Mode is pushed in a role or situation that does not align with his/her natural instincts.

Fact Finder

• Ignores past experience
• Acts inappropriately
• Doesn’t deal with complexities
• Pays no attention to detail
• Is not strategically oriented

Follow Thru

• Avoids procedures
• Fights the system
• Uses time inefficiently
• Is noncompliant
• Leaves Loose Ends

Quick Start

• Lacks a sense of urgency
• Resists change
• Has difficulty dealing with ambiguity
• Is inflexible
• Won’t take risks

Implementer

• Ignores durability factors
• Doesn’t deal well with tangibles
• Lacks sensitivity to product quality
• Doesn’t maintain plant and equipment
• Puts off making repairs

How to Prevent Burnout and Boost Morale

What’s the solution? If you’re struggling with employee burnout, it’s time to fine tune your expectations and positioning of talent. You can do this by:

• providing  ample opportunities for your employees to perform according to their unique MO
• never expecting your employees to conform to set patterns of performance
• never underestimating natural instinct’s role in job success.

Ready to bring out the best in your people? First, you’ll need to understand them. At 3Ci, we offer unique training experiences and customized programs in Atlanta that will help you make it happen. Get in touch today to learn more.