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www.ihrim.org • Workforce Solutions Review • March 2014 27

Change Management

The Role of Change Management in Human Resources Information Management: Leading, Supporting and Inspiring People through Change By Tracy Benson, On the Same Page

Few would argue that technology represents the single most powerful enabler in organizations today. As such, pressure has never been higher on human resources and information technology leaders to partner in delivering big results. “CIOs understand they need to manage IT process- es in order to deliver results and to meet key expectations,” said Graham Waller vice president and executive partner with Gartner Executive Programs and co-author of The CIO Edge – Seven Leadership Skills You Need To Drive Results. “They also understand the need to lead people in order to deliver on those goals. However, what many don’t understand is the incredibly important interplay between the two.”

The failure to simultaneously manage IT and lead people is behind many well-known and well-publicized technol- ogy implementation fiascos, and a source of immense cost to organizations. Information technology changes, like any large-scale organizational change, involves introducing a disruptive event, process, or set of activities in order to achieve a more efficient and effective result. Disruption of any kind typically introduces a temporary loss of focus and productivity.

The point of change management is to decrease the time it takes to move through the transition between the current and desired future state, while minimizing individual, team and organizational dysfunction. The name “change manage- ment” is itself a bit of a misnomer, however. When we talk of change management, what we are really talking about is leading, supporting and inspiring people through change.

Behind all of the sophisticated change management models and process maps is a simple fact: it is people who get things done – not strategies. Take it from Larry Bossidy, an expert on Execution (the title of one of his best-selling books), and former Honeywell CEO: “At the end of the day, you bet on people, not strategies.”

According to Mr. Waller, “Focusing on leadership and people skills…is, in fact, the biggest determinate of success or failure.” With this much at risk, HR technology leaders must openly embrace the people leadership required to be successful.

What does the heart have to do with it? Research into the heart-brain connection reveals that

emotional processes play a much greater role in our mental lives than previously understood. We are not, in fact, driven by dry cognitive processes or rational thinking, as it is often called.

Rather, according to Ron Ritchhart, research associate at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education, our emotions have “projective power over our thoughts.” As we encounter fresh situations, face novel problems or grapple with new ideas, our emotional response sets in motion the initial allocation of our mental resources. In es- sence, our first “read” of a new situation is centered in our emotions, feelings and attitudes.

Centuries ago, Roman philosopher Cicero recognized the power of emotions to influence our brains: “If you wish to persuade me, you must think my thoughts, feel my feelings and speak my words.” When it comes to leading people in organizations through change, the message is clear: We must meet our colleagues where they are before we earn the right to take them where we want them to go.

Paint a picture. Address the question: What problems are we solving

and why? This is the first step in addressing the heart- brain connection, and helping colleagues see what you see. It’s about developing a compelling story about why the organization is taking on this technology project. The key is to develop the story from the perspective of its value to the company and to users, not with a focus on features and specifications. These four questions will help flesh out the picture and create a platform for people who are not intimate with the project to connect:

1. What is changing? What is not changing?

2. Why is this better than what we have today?

3. For whom is it better?

4. What do you want/need from me?

We find one of the biggest challenges is that project team leaders and members live and breathe the business case for change for months before it actually gets imple- mented. By the time whatever is changing begins to have an impact at user level, it is often old news to project lead- ers. They often forget that it remains brand new to the rest of the organization.

Overcoming this barrier – the presumed awareness and understanding – requires patience, focus, and discipline in order to spread the message consistently, over and over again. This does not mean saying the same thing 10 times. It means constantly tying new messages back to the vision, including the strategic direction, tactical drivers and busi- ness actions. Think of this as maintaining the drumbeat in a complicated musical score; without it, the rest of the players will lose their way.

28 March 2014 • Workforce Solutions Review • www.ihrim.org

Invest time and energy in aligning leaders and key stakeholders.

According to ERP.asia, lack of visible, vocal, and mean- ingful executive sponsorship is the second most significant cause of ERP implementation failures: “While there aren’t many projects without executive sponsors anymore, there are plenty without effective executive sponsors. Executive sponsors cannot stand on the side lines merely watching the game. They must visibly, vocally and actively demon- strate leadership, commitment to the project, and support of project team members at every possible point.”

Strong leader sponsorship is crucial, as it is the under- pinning for broader organizational support and adoption. This work requires identifying the particular needs, priori- ties and concerns that each leader and key stakeholder may bring to the table when considering whether or not to support a project. These issues represent potential bar- riers, which if left unaddressed, will likely hamper the project team’s progress.

The amount of alignment work required is directly related to the complexity of the organization’s structure, its functional and geographic spread, and the company’s business model (centralized or decentralized). In recent years, we have seen the time required to drive alignment increase exponentially, particularly as companies move toward a matrix structure and global centers of excellence (or expertise).

Activate your managers. Managers are on the frontlines of leading, supporting

and inspiring people through change. This group is also the most often overlooked and, potentially, the most pow- erful change lever in any organization. Initiate a proactive and concerted effort aimed at enlisting managers and su- pervisors in leading the change with three simple actions:

1. Elevate them by making them a primary audience for leadership communication. This demonstrates that the company values the important role they play in guiding the attitudes and actions of the workforce.

2. Provide them with the tools and training so that they can facilitate the change within their teams.

3. Set them up for success by sharing key develop- ments and milestones in advance. When they find out about a major change at the same time as their employees, you have lost any opportunity for them to be on your side.

Celebrate successes and learn from failures. Bill Gates said, “It’s fine to celebrate success, but it is

more important to heed the lessons of failure.” Many com- pany cultures breed a fear of exposing vulnerability, while some outright admonish failure. What a waste.

In her 2011 Harvard Business Review article, “Strate- gies for Learning from Failure,” author Amy C. Edmondson explains that intelligent failures (a term coined by Duke University professor of management Sim Sitkin), “provide valuable new knowledge that can help an organization leap ahead of the competition and ensure its future growth. They occur when experimentation is necessary, when answers are not knowable in advance because this exact situation hasn’t been encountered before.”

Regardless of how well-planned a technology imple- mentation or adaptation may be, each one progresses with unique and unanticipated developments and consequences. Sharing what is learned from failures or missteps along the way builds employee and organizational agility in the face of change, and according to Edmondson, often co-exists with high standards for performance.

Here are 10 tips for building momentum during change.

1. Voids are bad; grind out ambiguity with compelling, candid and consistent communication.

2. Enlist and rely on managers and supervisors to lead, support and inspire their people.

3. Maintain the customer as central to the change pro- cess.

4. Manage by mantra. Apply laser-sharp focus and clar- ity to a short set of simple, easy-to-remember mes- sages.

5. Generate results to sustain the change process.

6. Beat the drum on the rationale behind big changes… over and over.

7. Encourage questions and enable dialogue.

8. Build disciplined management and communication processes to support the change.

9. Ensure representation and participation from all enti- ties involved.

10. Always remember, it’s about the people.

About the Author Tracy Benson is the founder and chief executive officer of On the Same Page (www.on-the-same- page.com), a consulting firm specializing in devel- oping and applying customized internal com- munication strategies that engage employees and drive business outcomes. Benson and her team counsel and provide strategy and execution sup-

port to senior executive teams across a wide variety of industries to lead their organizations through transformational change. The author of several executive-level books, she is a frequent speaker, workshop presenter and expert media resource. She can be reached at [email protected].

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