With so many changes happening in a short time stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and social crises, employers face important decisions on how to go forward in managing their teams and adapting for today’s realities. It’s a good time to look at where your business is now and apply what you’ve learned over the past several months. It’s also important to look at ways you are listening to and connecting with employees, and opportunities for greater focus on diversity and inclusion.

“We were able to do in days what would have taken years.” I’ve heard this often lately.

I’m in awe of how employers and employees have stepped to the plate to do amazing things… shifting business plans in days, reinventing ways of working, and turning “we could never” into “we can and did."  In many ways, though, the hard work is just beginning. We’re entering a new stage of navigating through change when fatigue sets in and a company’s culture is tested.

Successfully integrating two companies is difficult and effective communication and change management are key. A study conducted by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and Mercer asked CEOs after a merger what changes they would make if they had to do it again. Their top response: the way they communicated with employees.

Organizations going through change naturally focus on the project being implemented – what has to be done by when to complete the action plan. They often don’t give as much thought to what people need to do differently to achieve the desired results. Yet most organizational change won’t succeed without employees somehow adopting new ways of working.

What is Change Management Communication and Why is it Important?

Often the biggest complaints from employees today is about all the change going on. Another restructuring, transformation, cutback, change at the senior leadership level... and on and on.

Change is the Norm

Change can be exhausting for employees; yet it can also be exhilarating and help evolve an organization in a great way. Regardless, the most important thing for employees to realize is that change IS. For organizations to grow and succeed today—and to meet shareholder demands and expectations—they’re going to have to continually evolve.

One of the best traits that any leader can possess is the ability to remain flexible in the face of change in the workplace, no matter how large or small.

Here are some practical tips that you can use to make change less stressful for everyone:

It’s important to realize that most problems in business today lie in the absence of real communication, and to understand the need to facilitate dialogue and “manage” conversation with employees and teams. As a result, you’re able to create shared meaning and move people to action.

It often seems there is an invisible rubber band tethering a person to their past, to what we know to be safe and familiar. If you have studied Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs or think about your own experiences, you will recognize this human trait. For purposes of this blog, let me call this the personal elasticity of change.  

A major division of a healthcare company that’s part of a Fortune 50 global healthcare conglomerate faced a tough road. Changes in the healthcare landscape forced sweeping changes to its strategy.