You’ve spent years planning for change in your organization. You’ve got support from your stakeholders and exciting results to look forward to. You’re relying on your employees to implement the change, and the next part of the process is educating the staff and getting them on board. Building a change management strategy may seem like a daunting task, but illumyx is here to help.
There are many theories and frameworks for change management strategy. One of the most popular is Prosci’s ADKAR approach, which focuses on the individual employee. ADKAR is an acronym for awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement. Essentially, the idea is to walk employees through each step of the change and support them with the knowledge and skills to execute and maintain that change.
At illumyx, our model focuses on networks of employee teams to help make change happen across the organization. Let’s walk through the key employee teams here.
Executive Team
We recommend starting from the top. Your executive team will likely learn about the change first, and it is essential that you get their support before rolling it out to the whole organization. Your executive team is responsible for sponsoring the change, championing the roll-out, and clearing roadblocks that might come up inside of their teams.
Human Resources Team
Next, you want to make sure that your HR team is on board. Get their help in developing and implementing a plan and offering guidance. They know your staff best and have valuable insights in carrying out your strategy and holding people accountable. In many cases, illumyx works most closely with HR throughout the change management process.
Middle Management
Your middle managers are a key stakeholder group in implementing change. They often deal with challenges from both executives and their teams, and they usually score the lowest in our employee satisfaction surveys. Partnering with your middle managers helps prepare them for change and makes them feel invested in the outcome. Provide opportunities for middle managers to offer feedback on the communication plan, surveys, or action plan. Get them involved in the early stages to help craft the formal communication that goes out to their staff.
Cross-functional Group of Employees
This is an employee group created specifically for the change management process, made up of employees who are not managers. Ideally, they are doing the physical work to keep the organization running successfully. This team is going to build credibility across the organization (so it no longer feels like something the “higher-ups” are making us do), support informal communication (by having meaningful conversations with their co-workers during the workday), and help with resistance to change (since their participation in the committee inspires them to embrace and advocate for change).
Each of these employee groups plays a vital role in a successful change management strategy. Change isn’t easy, but by creating intentional networks of teams in the process, you can help employees feel supported, be informed, and prepare for what’s next.
Do you need support building your change management strategy? Let us help.
