Employees are more apt to support change if they are ready to make changes. This means they believe in the changes, have the time and energy to invest in the changes, and your organization is ready to support the changes.
Recently, a CEO sent an email asking about how his executive staff felt about starting a continuous improvement process using work teams. The immediate response from several who have real world experience, was that the organization was not ready for such a process. They’re right. The company is making the transition from tactical to strategic and that is taking up all of the available energy.
You can assess the readiness of your organization to participate in change, too. Instruments are available to help you assess readiness, as well as qualitative information from internal or external staff and consultants. Answer questions such as these. What is the level of trust within your organization? Do people feel generally positive about their work environment. Do you have a history of open communication? Do you share financial information?
These factors have a tremendous impact on people’s acceptance of and willingness to change. If you can start building this positive and supportive environment prior to the change, you have a great head start on the change implementation.
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