In 1996, Harvard University professor John Kotter published his classic work on change management, Leading Change. At the time, his research revealed that only 30 per cent of change programs succeed, and so he laid out eight steps that are at the core of much of today's change management. Yet a 2008 McKinsey & Co. survey of 3,199 executives around the world found that only one-in-three change efforts succeed, about the same as Prof. Kotter reported.
In The McKinsey Quarterly, Carolyn Aiken of the consultancy's Toronto office and Scott Keller of the Chicago office offer the following nine insights on how human nature gets in the way of your change effort:
What motivates you doesn't motivate them
Managers base the need for change on the organizational impact - the change is intended to carry the organization from good to great or turn it around from despair, and improve shareholder return. But research finds that employee motivation is split equally among five forms of work impact: on society, on the customer, on the company and shareholders, on the working team, and on the individual. In one company, recasting the communications strategy for a cost-reduction program to include an element from each of those streams lifted employee motivation measures from 35.4 per cent to 57.1 per cent in a month.
Let them write their own story
Much of the time spent communicating the change story would be better spent listening. When we choose for ourselves, we are more committed to the outcome by a factor of nearly five to one. Let employees discover the need for the program and the preferred direction themselves, and they will be more committed.
It takes a story with plus and minus
Most change programs are based on what's wrong but a story focused on what's wrong invokes blame and creates fatigue and resistance. Switching to a positive message, however, in which the focus is on discovery and dreaming, can actually lead to a watered-down impact since as humans we are more willing to take risks to avoid losing what we've got than to gain something more. So try for a mix of positive and negative.
Leaders believe, mistakenly, they are above change
Most executives don't consider themselves among the ones who need to change. But if you want to be a role model for change, you need to scrutinize what you need to change yourself. Follow Amgen CEO Kevin Sharer, who asks each of his top 75 managers" "What should I do differently?"
Influence leaders aren't a panacea for making change
Today's change-management literature places a premium on identifying and mobilizing those in the organization who either by role or personality - or both - have disproportionate influence over how others think and behave. That is sound advice, but doesn't mean influence leaders are a panacea. Success depends less on how persuasive a few selected leaders are and more on how receptive the "society" is to the idea. In practice, often-unexpected members of the rank and file feel compelled to step up and make the difference in pushing change.
Direct links to money is the most expensive way to motivate
Instead of trying to link the objectives of the change program to staff compensation, try small, unexpected rewards since those can have a disproportionate effect on employees' satisfaction with the change program. Gordon Bethune of Continental Airlines fared well by sending an unexpected $65 to every staff member when the carrier made it to the top five of on-time airlines and John McFarlane, former CEO of ANZ Bank, sent everyone a bottle of champagne as thanks for their change efforts.
Process and outcome must be fair
Employees will go against their own self-interest if the situation violates their notions of fairness and justice. When a bank created a new pricing model that front-line staff considered unfair to customers, a significant number bad-mouthed the policy to customers and used price overrides to show their good faith even if it meant they were less likely to achieve individual sales goals (and were ruining the program for the bank).
Employees are what they think, feel and believe in
As managers try to drive performance by changing the way employees behave, they too often neglect the thoughts, feelings and beliefs of staff that drive behaviour. A bank intent on maximizing the time staff spent with customers failed until it took into account that employees found customer interactions uncomfortable and built up that capability.
Good intentions aren't enough
It's not enough to have employees practise new skills away from the workplace, in training sessions. They need to have time to practise back in the workplace.
