There was a time, just a couple of decades ago, that change inside organizations was more the exception versus the norm. And the cause of that change was less externally driven – there wasn’t the perpetual risk that if you didn’t adapt, for example, to digital disruption, labor demands, or environmental, social, and governance expectations, you’d be left behind.

Beyond the implications this has for organizational ecosystems, it’s also having a profound impact on the people leading these companies. Across all our clients, we’re seeing leaders who are overwhelmed – feeling as though there’s no off-ramp on the hamster wheel of change.

It’s why a recent article I read by former New York Times “Corner Office” columnist, Adam Bryant, really hit home. While he wasn’t writing about change specifically, the following points – not direct quotes – resonated with me and can help leaders of all types navigate change.

3 Tips to Help Leaders Prioritize to Drive Change

Organizations are facing more changes than ever. And it’s just not just change they’re facing, but a fundamental shift of power from employer to employee. With the competition for talent fierce, employee demands have never been greater.

That’s on top of the macro disruptors facing businesses of all sizes – such as supply chain, labor scarcity, and commodity volatility – as well as the industry-specific ones that have spared few businesses.

While that plays out in the background – or more often, foreground – we’re also telling employees on a regular basis that they need to be bolder. Shift their mindset. Be more agile. Think disruptively. Be leaner. Act in a more transformative fashion.

That’s a tall task. And it’s the reason that the answer for many organizations is consistent: “we need a change management plan.”

The unprecedented shift companies are experiencing due to a staggering transformation of the American workforce is one of the biggest concerns facing employers today and is hitting healthcare especially hard as the industry ranks as the second-largest sector impacted by the Great Resignation. While we can’t control a global pandemic stretching the healthcare workforce even thinner than it already was, we can make a difference when it comes to change fatigue.

4 Key Factors Affecting Healthcare Employees and Organizations

Here are the four key factors and changes that are constantly creating ever-shifting contexts and engendering the employee insecurity and uncertainty (even fear) that directly impacts your organization’s culture and success.

By necessity, organizations and employees transformed in ways they never imagined possible as the world endured COVID-19. Compelled to adapt to circumstances beyond their control, leaders and employees took action together, sometimes completing in just a few weeks major changes that had been pondered for years. They experienced what is possible with alignment around a common goal, a compelling case for change, and consistent communication about what is happening and how things are progressing on mission-critical endeavors.

While no one would wish for a repeat of what we’ve been through, we can learn from these experiences as we plan ways to more effectively lead future change. Illuminated by the success we saw in many organizations, we can reinforce the importance of alignment, leadership and consistent communications that are critical best practices in effective change management and related communications.

Here is our five-step process, including real-life examples and templates you can use as you plan and implement your next important change effort.

What is Change Management Communication and Why is it Important?

Celebrating jobs well done and thanking employees for extra effort are common ways organizations motivate and recognize their people, but it could be time to up your recognition game. When change is a constant and employees are looking for more from their employers, it’s good to have a meaningful recognition strategy that can support employees and help advance change.

Every leader will at some point be responsible for leading their organization through change. And when that happens, it’s not uncommon to discover that the experience is far from business as usual.

Leading change requires different mindsets, skills and techniques than many leaders practice regularly. Responsibilities like managing budgets, milestones and metrics are only part of the process. It’s understanding and managing the people side of change that is the key to adopting and sustaining any change.

Leaders: Some Food for Thought as You Lead Change

Since the start of the pandemic, organizations of all sizes navigated unprecedented challenges and changes along with their employees. Some were surprised at what they were able to accomplish during this critical time. In fact, we heard several examples of multi-year change programs that were accomplished in a matter of months after the pandemic upended everything.

So how did they deliver change at a pace they didn’t know was possible? The circumstances of COVID-19 were a big driver; ideas that may have seemed optional or not time-sensitive before the pandemic became necessary and urgent.

Change is hard for organizations, for employees asked to change, and for leaders responsible for guiding employees through the change. Each person must process their own feelings and work through the stages of change in their own way. However, leaders have an important role in the process.

As a leader, you not only must provide guidance and information to employees; it’s equally important that you listen to people’s concerns, show support, and serve as an anchor for them throughout the process.

Serving as the Change Navigator

Following are tips to remember as you help members of your team successfully navigate change:

Whatever your level or tenure in an organization, when you lead others, you’ll be the first person they’ll want to hear from in times of change. In addition to managing day-to-day priorities and motivating your team, you have an important role in explaining the vision and reasons for a change, giving employees line of sight to the organization’s strategy and helping them understand how the change will affect them.

The amount and type of communication needed will depend on the extent and timing of the change. Often there will be a high-level organizational announcement of what is changing and why, outlining plans and timing for key milestones in the process. The rollout of the plan typically involves sharing more information on what’s changing for specific teams, including training opportunities and details relevant to each role.

Help Build Understanding and Support for Change

As a leader you will likely receive updates before your team members and be looked to as a resource for them. Consider these ways you can help employees understand and support a change.

Every company deals with difficult problems and issues each day. Starbucks’ issue of racial profiling in one of their stores; United Airlines forcibly removing a passenger from a flight; countless companies having issues with data breaches; leadership teams finding themselves in the hot seat for not following through on diversity and inclusion pledges, to name a few.

Over the past year and a half, the COVID-19 pandemic proved that no industry or organization is free from the risk of a crisis. As companies worked their way through workplace and workforce implications of the pandemic, we all learned more about the critical importance of communicating during crisis. So, how can corporate leaders apply these lessons when something goes wrong?

4 Steps to Effectively Communicate in a Crisis