When growing your business, change is inevitable. Even those who have been established for a while must learn to adapt to new innovations and flow with the ups and downs of the economy. Unfortunately, for many us, the word “change” creates an uneasy feeling in our guts.
This can make it challenging for business owners to implement the changes necessary to improve performance. With the right tactic, however, change can happen smoothly. Here are some ways to overcome resistance and get your employees on board for a beneficial change.
Involve Your Employees in the Process
When mapping out a big change, invite your employees to contribute. Hold meetings to gather input from the various teams and groups within your company. Ask employees what they feel is working well and what they think could be improved. This will not only help management make smarter changes, but will also allow your employees to feel as though they had a say in the changes being made. When people are given the opportunity to contribute to change, they will be less resistant to it.
Explain Individual Benefits
Instead of presenting an overall goal for how a change will affect your company, break the change down by department. Explain how the change will benefit everyone in your workplace. Let each department or group in your company know how this change will make the work they do easier or more productive.
Your employees are going to have questions. “Will this change create more work for me?” “Is it going to change my schedule?” “How quickly must I learn these new processes?” Address the questions and concerns of your employees thoroughly and honestly. If the change was not beneficial to your business in some way, you would not implementing it.
Establish a Thorough Communication System
Most changes take time. Establishing a new or different process requires strong communication each step of the way, so be sure to keep your employees updated. If you have regular weekly meetings with your employees, take a few minutes each time to discuss where your company is at in the change process. Provide your employees with a timeline of when critical components of the change process will occur so they can be prepared.
Measure Success
Once the change has been implemented, set up several checkpoints or milestones to measure how it improves performance throughout the year. Provide your employees with this information and reward those who perform especially well. Refer back to the benefits you discussed with your employees in the very beginning and show evidence of how the change made their work easier or better.
Consult a Business Coach!
Your employees may not be the only ones afraid of change, and that’s perfectly understandable. ActionCOACH Tampa Bay has developed a formula that weighs your vision for change against your employees’ resistance to help you successfully implement new systems and processes. Call us today to learn more about how we can help your business grow!