Communicating Change

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Communicating Change what every communicator
should know
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What this document covers
? Different business scenarios present
different challenges ? The emotional impact of
change ? Key principles for effective change
communication ? What to do when the going
gets tough dealing with high concern issues ?
What it takes to change behaviour
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The nature of change
? Change is increasingly positioned as
continuous improvement ? Different models of
change Lewis unfreezing, changing and
refreezing Beers 6-step process of change
alignment Shaw evolutionary
process ? Different change strategies
Normative re-educative
Rational-empirical
Power-coercive Action-centred
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Did you know?
? According to a recent CIPD survey of 800 UK
organisations ? On average they went
through a reorganisation every three years
85 of the reorganisations lead to
redundancies 50 failed to achieve the
intended improvements 40 were not
completed on budget 60 were not
completed on time CIPD, September 2005
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Effective communication facilitates change
Source 2003/4 Communication ROI Study, Watson
Wyatt Worldwide
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Effective change communication
? Gives clarity and helps people to focus ?
Reduces confusion and misunderstanding ?
Minimises disruption and helps reduce risk ?
Reduces resistance builds commitment ? Makes
implementation faster and smoother ? Helps to
maintain leadership credibility ? Strengthens
the psychological contract ? Encourages
involvement and action
Effective change communication
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Change map
Whole company
Negative
Intensity
Positive
Impact
One person
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The emotional impact of change
The psychological contract

• Obligations (both parties)
• Lawful behaviour
• Fair treatment
• Honesty

• Employee expectations
• Reward for work/effort
• Safe and comfortable working environment
• Opportunities for personal development and career
  progression
• Adopt equitable personal policies and procedures

• Employer expectations
• Productive for reward
• Working diligently in pursuit of organisation
  goals
• Not to betray positions of trust
• Reasonable standards of behaviour

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What happens when it is violated?

• ? Voice Voicing feelings and concerns helps to
  reduce losses and restore trust. It is an
  active, constructive effort to change what you
  dont like in a situation and compensate for
  the breach while remaining in the relationship.
• ? Silence A form of non-response. It reflects a
  willingness to endure or accept unfavourable
  circumstances in the hope that they may improve.
  As a passive, constructive response it
  perpetuates the existing relationship.
• ? Neglect This normally takes the form of passive
  negligence or active destruction. Most common
  when voicing issues isnt possible or where
  there is a history of conflict. It can involve
  neglecting ones duties, acts of sabotage
  (vandalism, theft, slowdowns, etc) or
  withdrawal of support.
• ? Exit Often the last resort. Employers can fire
  workers whose performance does not meet
  standards and workers can quit their job if they
  feel they are not getting what was promised.

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The emotional impact of change
Negative response
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The emotional impact of change
Positive response
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Principles for effective change communication and
engagement
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A framework for managing change
Beginnings
Endings
Neutral
Enthusiasm
Trusting
Denial
Excitement
Refocus
Anxiety
Relief/Anxiety
Shock
Hopeful/Skeptical
Confusion
Impatience
Resignation
Acceptance
Anger
Realization of Loss
Approach-Avoidance
High Stress
Undirected Energy
Conflict
Creativity
Acceptance
Opposition
Engagement
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What it all boils down to creating champions
High
Champions
Bystanders
Intellectual understanding
Source MORI 2002 Human Capital survey of 356
employees working in UK/international companies
with gt1000 employees
Loose Cannons
Weak Links
Med/low
High
Emotional commitment
Med/low
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A model of personal change
Pre-contemplation
Communication Engagement Involvement
Contemplation
Preparation
Relapse
Action
Maintenance
Acceptance new behaviour habit
Prochaska, Norcross DiClemente
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Making it happen
Changing attitudes and behaviours involves a
variety of interventions designed to move people
from awareness to action
ACTION
The doing e.g. what can I do?
The how e.g. how do I go about doing this? Can
I?
ABILITY
Increasing engagement
Increasing commitment
The why e.g. do I care?
ATTITUDE
AWARENESS
The what e.g. do I know?
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Designing change communication and engagement
activities

• ? Provide a variety of ways for people to
  engage with the change in meaningful ways
• ? Focus on activities that help people discover
  things for themselves
• ? Maintain momentum continually reinforce
• ? Recognise it takes time to change behaviours
• ? Put clear measures in place to encourage
  change
• ? Allow local flexibility in how tools are used
  
• ? Coach local teams on how best to use the
  tools

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When the going gets tough
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High-concern checklist

• Key questions to ask about the change
• ? Does it affect team structures, reporting
  lines and/or individual job roles?
• ? Does it involve redundancies, relocation or
  redeployment?
• ? Will people need to reapply for their jobs?
• ? Will there be changes to peoples terms and
  conditions?
• ? Will it significantly change the way people
  work or the systems and process they use?
• ? Does it affect peoples pensions or benefits?
• ? Will it impact on the organisations overall
  reputation?
• ? Will it change the power base or peoples
  profiles?

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Getting things right from the start

• ? Clarify roles and responsibilities
• ? Ensure senior managers are on board
• ? Understand the companys legal obligations
• ? Create a clear timeframe
• ? Map out your stakeholders
• ? Be consistent
• ? Get some best practice advice

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Using the 6 Cs to shape communication

• Demonstrate Care
• Cut to the chase with a clear statement of the
  decision
• Share two key Criteria behind the decision
• Anticipate and address the groups Concerns
  (maximum of 3 messages)
• Check understanding by repeating your main
  message
• Show your Commitment to helping people through
  the process

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Case study 1 When the going gets tough
Supporting people through difficult times at
INVESCO
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The challenge

• ? Complex reorganisation exercise

Redeployment
Reducing management layers
Redundancies
New team structures and reporting lines
Relocation
Job selection
New IT system, processes and procedures
Outsourcing
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The issues

• ? Internal teams capability to deal with so
  many issues
• ? Sense of uncertainty/panic among leaders
• ? Angst about roles and responsibilities
• ? Rampant grapevine
• ? High levels of mistrust
• ? Tensions around when to communicate and what
• ? Major business continuity risks
• ? High levels of stress
• ? Tensions within senior leadership team

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Approach

• ? Key project team created including HR,
  communication and operational leaders
• ? Communication principles agreed from the
  outset
• ? Suite of different tools used to give people
  the information and support they needed
  dovetailed with HR activities
• ? Feedback and QA built into everything and
  leaders encouraged to communicate early
• ? People encouraged not to try to quash the
  rumour mill
• ? Leaders received coaching to give them the
  support they needed to work through the change
• ? Internal and external messages aligned

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Key activities

• ? Face-to-face main channel of communication,
  with QA and open door sessions
• ? Backed-up by written-materials for people to
  take away
• ? Follow-up sessions for teams so that they
  could review and raise issues
• ? Parallel HR process for those facing
  redundancy
• ? On-line feedback facility to answer key
  issues and concerns
• ? Weekly face to face and written updates
  throughout the process

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Critical success factors

• ? Acknowledging peoples emotional reactions
• ? Leaders, HR and communication working
  together right from the start
• ? Allowing managers and employees the space
  and time to adjust to the changes
• ? Helping leaders develop greater emotional
  empathy its not what they said,
  but how they said it
• ? Providing easy access to information and
  updates
• ? Following through on commitments made

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