Employees and stakeholders that I interact with on change initiatives are surprisingly astute about corporate strategy. They expect any change to be tied to and connected with the companies goals. Yet maybe less surprising is the fact that change communication, approach and definition rarely is. To not have the connection is, of course, impossible.
So those stakeholders are left with one of two beliefs (and they are not shy about voicing this believe me)-
One is that management has no idea what they are doing
Two is that management does not care about the individuals in the organization
Belief one creates a loss of faith in leadership
Belief two creates a loss of faith in leaders
Both cause change to grind to slowdowns.
The fix?
- Use a process that defines stakeholders connection in terms of strategy and business objectives tied to that strategy.
- Do not think of corporate strategy and the strategy of the implementation of change as the same thing.
- Invest in the front end of change initiatives with a high level, horizontally focused consultant.
- Never put When before Why, Where and Who