What does it take to get Organisational Change to Stick?
Here is a list we've developed which covers many of the issues and challenges inherent in getting change to stick.
Culture
- is the organisation one that values and understands change?Leadership
- does the leadership/management group accept that they need to change as much as their staff?Time
- is time given for people to learn, to make mistakes and to learn from them?Needs analysis
- is skill and effort put into identifying what really needs to be changed and what can be changed?Engagement
- is the analysis, objective setting and programme development going to be done WITH employees? Or just To them?Readiness
- do the participants need it, want it (WIIFM) and are they ready to make it stick?Objectives
- does someone actually get to define the objectives for any change in such a way as they relate to the business needs identified in the analysis? Does anyone work to get buy-in from all involved?Programme development
- is expertise applied to develop the programme such that there is a high probability that it will deliver the objectives?Money and resources
- is enough money and are enough of the right people available to do things properly? Or is it a case of spend as little as we possibly can and hope?Cost benefit/ROI
- what is the baseline we will measure from and what measurements will we use to assess any change/improvement. Is it worth doing?Systems and processes
- whatever the planned change, do the systems and processes allow for the expected change? Or do they work against it? This includes remuneration, what gets praised and valued and what is not valued.The change programme itself
- how well is it done?Follow up
- are line managers trained to deliver effective follow up as the change progresses? Are they given sufficient time and incentive to work on it?Reflection and experimentation
- all change requires people to struggle to do things differently. To what extent are they provided with support, challenge, time, coaching and help to try it out and overcome their struggles?Measurement
- does the programme get measured? Can it be seen to have made a difference?
That's a lot of things that have to be done right for the change to have a high probability of sticking!!
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