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.  

Every company, no matter the industry, deals with difficult problems and issues each day. Starbucks’ issue of racial profiling in one of their stores; Southwest’s emergency landing resulting in the death of a passenger; countless produce companies having issues with E. coli and Chili’s data breach, to name a few. No industry or organization is free from the risk of a crisis. So what should corporate leaders do when something goes wrong? 

There’s clearly no shortage of strategies for helping your organization grow and succeed today – innovation, transformation, strategy models, marketing, customer insights, and on and on. We all know the list.   

Yet I remain a big believer in effective communication as the best – and often most overlooked – way to ensure strategic success. Without effective communication, all the strategic levers in the world won’t succeed because employees, clients and customers don’t understand and embrace the company story and path forward.  

A friend of mine is working on shedding some pounds. It’s a weighty challenge, even he’ll acknowledge (forgive the pun). He’s read every book and can describe a ton of strategies that work. That said, he’s struggling to put those strategies into practice. He’s not alone. While knowledge is power, or empowerment, it’s putting that knowledge into action that matters most. Easier said than done. 

As leaders, we can take charge of change, or we can let change happen to us. We can view change as bad and negative, or as an opportunity. We can fight it, or embrace the learning and development opportunities inherent in every change.