Common Manifestations of Employees’ Anticipation of the Unknown

The past few years have brought many changes to companies, good and bad. Although the economy seems to be turning around, many organizations will still be facing major changes to come, mostly for the best. As a leader, realize that employees react to organizational changes in a variety of ways—some positive and some negative. It is important for managers and supervisors to understand that these reactions are simply a normal part of the process employees go through during periods of change. The following are some typical responses to be aware of:

1. “Not me!”
   When employees are asked to do a different job or change the way they currently do a particular job, they may respond by saying, “Not me!” They may suggest that someone else is better suited for the job, or deny that they themselves are capable of making the proposed change. This initial reaction is a result of the satisfaction these employees have with the status quo, and their fear of the unknown.

2. “What will this do to my job security?”
   It is natural for employees to view change first from the perspective of their own job security, and second from the needs of the organization. Employees can’t help but wonder what will happen to their jobs if technological advances are introduced or if downsizing creates organizational restructuring. Will the changes result in less work for them, or even do away with their jobs altogether? Employees are also concerned about what financial impact the changes will have on them.

3. Anger
   Some employees are so resistant to change that they become frustrated and angry. Their anger may be repressed, causing an increased stress level; or overt, resulting in emotional outbursts. Whether repressed or overt, anger is a typical reaction when employees feel a loss of control over their work environment, or worry that their job security is being threatened.

4. Gossip
   Gossip, always an organizational challenge, often escalates during periods of change. Employees who feel a loss of power and control may respond with frustration, anger and disbelief—and resort to vicious gossip or “back-stabbing” activities. Unfortunately, this gossip is detrimental to a positive forward thrust during change.

5. “Who’s in charge here?”
   When a company is restructuring, it is natural for employees to question leadership. Employees who will be working for a new supervisor when the change is implemented may experience difficulty changing their allegiance from one leader to another. And when employees have not been kept in the communication loop and thus do not see the positive results of the changes, they are likely to question the wisdom of the new leadership.

6. Panic!
   Some employees, finding comfort in a predictable routine, panic at the mere mention of change. They worry about changes in the way they normally proceed with their jobs. They may resist, not out of stubbornness, but out of fear about how the changes will impact them personally. They may be too plagued with panic to deal rationally with the “new regime,” and some may actually become physically ill.

7. “I quit!”
   There may be employees who elect to quit rather than make the needed changes. Unfortunately, changes going on in one organization are typical of those going on in other organizations. Electing to stand on one’s principles and fight change by quitting often makes the point, but usually at a cost to the employee, not the organization.

The following positive responses to change usually come from employees who feel a high degree of self-esteem, personal competence and self-confidence. These employees typically have the ability to remain open-minded in response to change, and to view it as a positive thing—for them personally and for the organization. When in alignment with their supervisors, employees with this positive attitude can help support and sell organizational change to other employees. Here are some typical positive responses:

8. “This is a challenge!”
   Some employees view change as a challenge, but are sure they can rise to the occasion, since they feel they have what it takes to be contributing team players when the change affects their work world. They remain open to new ideas, ask questions and feel confident in their ability to acquire the knowledge needed to complete the task. They exhibit a “can do” attitude in their approach to change. They may admit that the task is difficult, the procedure a bit cloudy, and the outcome unknown or questionable, but they are committed to rising to the challenge!

9. Enthusiasm
   Some employees naturally approach life and challenges more enthusiastically than others. Enthusiastic employees embrace change. Instead of trying to pick apart a proposed change and find all the ways it won’t work, they see it as a natural part of an organization’s evolution. Supervisors lucky enough to have enthusiastic employees need to support and nurture them, because their enthusiasm can infect other employees and help make the implementation of change much more palatable for everyone.

10. “Maybe I could adjust to this change . . . .”
    Not all employees embrace change enthusiastically or jump out of their seats ready to accept the challenge. Some watch from the sidelines–but remain open-minded. After a period of observation, they may agree to give the change a chance. While they may not be eager participants in the change process initially, they at least acknowledge the possibility of adjusting to the change. They express a willingness to learn new techniques and procedures and do not sabotage change activities.

11. Positive Vision
    Finally, there are employees who look at the bigger picture and visualize the possibilities. Their positive attitude toward change is based on a broader awareness of the marketplace, the specific industry and their competitive position in it; and an absolute trust in their company’s leadership. Because they feel positive about the company’s future, these employees generate a positive vision to their coworkers and encourage them to have trust during times of change and confusion.

As a leader, what are some other responses that you’ve seen employees have to an organizational change? How did you help them cope?

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What to expect when you begin to hold employees accountable

When you begin to hold employees accountable, it is important to remember that morale may go down before it rises to a higher level. We call this riding the “J” curve of workplace excellence. When you start on the accountability trail, some employees may become resentful. If you are a new leader to a team, you know what this feels like. The employee wants to tell you something like this: “I liked my old boss a lot better. My old boss did not bug me and I didn’t bug her. You annoy me, and I would be a whole lot happier if you would just leave me alone.”

When you start to hold employees like this accountable, they, along with every other marginal employee, become disgruntled. Morale declines and starts to move toward the bottom of the “J” curve. The morale and motivation must go down to the starting point on the “J” before it can rise up to the top.

Being a great leader in search of the path that leads to workplace excellence is not for the faint of heart. Holding all employees accountable to clearly defined outcomes is hard work. With really difficult employees, it feels like a fight. Yet holding everyone accountable and holding onto the “J” for the entire ride takes you one step closer to creating workplace excellence.

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Strategies for Uniting Cross-Departmental Teams

The stress of the economy has had a negative impact on organizations and has hampered the ability of employees to work cross-departmentally or divisionally as one team. In many cases, employees are working harder, faster and having just enough time to focus on their own survival. They don’t have the time to make communication with other team members a priority.

Recently, we have worked with several clients that are struggling with cross-departmental teamwork. We like to describe this phenomenon as misidentifying the enemy. The cross-departmental teams get into turf wars and start battling each other instead of working together to achieve shared objectives liked increased revenue, or improved customer service.

Our extensive research demonstrates that almost all employees and their leaders can figure out how to work well as a team within their own department. The “gold standard” in our research is the Best-of-the Best organizations, those that consistently score in the top quartile of all the organizations we have surveyed with Employee Satisfaction Surveys. What separates the Best of the Best organizations from the rest is their ability to understand how to work cross-departmentally as one team. The Best of the Best are between 13 and 16 percentage points higher in the areas of cross-departmental communication and collaboration than their counterparts.

Based on our findings, we offer you 8 tips to help your organization build strong cross-departmental teamwork.

1. Recognize that your organization has a challenge in building cross departmental teamwork. Becoming aware, and having others gain awareness is a key to bringing attention to this lack of teamwork.

2. Make a commitment to take action. It starts with you! Take the team’s temperature. Ask team members, on a scale of one to ten, with one low and ten high, how they would rate the teamwork between departments? Getting a baseline is an important step and will keep your motivation going when teamwork starts to improve.

3. Sell people on the problem, not on the solution. Everyone knows that teamwork is important. But asking people a question like, “When we don’t work well cross-departmentally, what impact does the lack of teamwork have on our customers?” is an example of having people understand the ramifications of the problem and accept ownership versus telling them what we need to do to fix the problem.

4. Gain consensus in your own department as to which two or three departments you need to work stronger with as a team. Pick the team to work with that will have the most benefit if cross-departmental teamwork is improved.

5. Make a list of all the problems that can occur when teams do not work well cross-departmentally. Are there profits or customers that are lost by not being efficient or providing exceptional service? Gain agreement that these are problems.

6. Make a list of the top two or three actions or opportunities that would improve cross-departmental teamwork. Focus on the ones that will give the biggest bang in improved teamwork. Too many actions can be overwhelming.

7. Set up another meeting with the cross-departmental team one week later to review what went well or right, what problems the team encountered, and what actions will be taken the following week to improve teamwork.

8. Meet frequently. Repeat weekly meetings until everyone, including customers, agree that cross-departmental communication and teamwork has improved.

Improving cross-departmental teamwork creates change that deeply impacts the culture of your organization. People will feel uncomfortable being forced to work with team members they have been able to avoid in the past. We can guarantee that team members are going to say, “We are too busy to meet this week.” Don’t fall for this trick. Remember, dysfunctional teams will do anything humanly possible not to meet. If you want to lead your organization to the ranks of the Best of the Best, cross-departmental teams in your organization need to be united. It’s up to you to set the example and make sure each member on your team understands that teamwork is not an option, but a necessity.

Have you encountered difficulty uniting departments in your organization? If so, leave a comment below discussing strategies that have worked at your organization. (Also, strategies that haven’t worked and what you have learned).

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Monday mornings can be difficult. You come back from a relaxing weekend to be bombarded by meetings, phone calls, and basically any other distraction under the sun. To help inspire you to seize the week, we send out a free Leadership Quote of the Week email on Monday mornings. Quotes from inspirational leaders will remind you of your role as a leader, and inspire you to look at the upcoming week in a new light.

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Never under-estimate the value of an open mind.

“I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times.”

-Everett Dirksen, U.S. politician who helped pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964

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Guiding Employees Through Change

Change proves to be a challenge not just for supervisors and managers, but for employees as well. This adds another dimension to the already difficult situation: guiding the employees through the change. After all, organizations don’t change, people do.

The following are eight suggestions that will help managers and supervisors guide employees through organizational change.

1. Involve employees in the change process. Employees are not so much against change as they are against being changed. Any time managers are going to implement organizational change, there is always a lag between the time the change has been discussed at the management level and the time the change is going to be implemented. Managers like to play like an ostrich and believe that they are the only ones who know about the changes that are going to take place. Unfortunately, while their heads are stuck in the sand believing that no one else knows, employees are effectively undermining the future changes with negative informal communication…the company grapevine. The sooner you involve employees in the process, the better off you will be implementing the change. A formal communication channel is more effective at implementing change than a negative informal one.

2. Interview employees regarding their feelings. It is critical that managers and supervisors understand what employees are feeling regarding the change. It is only when you accurately understand their feelings that you know what issues need to be addressed. Implementing change requires the ability to market and to sell. It is difficult to effectively sell without understanding your buyer’s needs, concerns, and fears.

3. Concentrate on effective delegation. Too often managers and supervisors feel they must use self-protective measures, especially during organizational change. They start by trying to police all activities. Don’t try to cover all the bases yourself. You should concentrate on effective delegation during the early stages of the change process. Effective delegation is particularly good for two reasons: first, it helps you manage and maintain your workload, and second, it gives your employees a sense of involvement. Involvement positions employees to share responsibility for change.

4. Raise levels of expectations. Now more than ever, you should ask more from your employees. It is expected that more work needs to be done during the change process. While it may be most practical to expect less in terms of performance, raise your levels of expectations and theirs. During change, employees are more likely to alter their work habits, so reach for the opportunity and push them to try harder and work smarter. Require performance improvements and make the process challenging, but remember to keep goals realistic in order to eliminate frustration and failure.

5. Ask employees for commitment. Once the change has been announced, it is important that you personally ask for each employee’s commitment to successfully implement the change. It is also important that you assure the employee that if there are problems, you want to hear about them. If a negative employee does not tell you, they will tell other employees why the change will not work.

6. Expand communication channels. The change process usually means that normal communication channels in the firm need to be enlarged. At this time, your employees will be hungrier than ever for information and answers. You can “beef up” communication. First, give employees an opportunity to give you input. Start by becoming more available and asking more questions. Get employees’ opinions and reactions to the changes. Maintain your visibility and make it clear that you are an accessible boss. More importantly, be a careful listener. Second, keep employees updated on a regular basis. Just letting your employees know that you have no new information is meaningful information to them. Strive to be specific; clear up rumors and misinformation that clutter the communication channels. Remember, it is almost impossible to over communicate.

7. Be firm, committed, and flexible. As you introduce a change, it is important that you see the change through to completion. Abandoning it halfway through the change process accomplishes two negative impacts. First, it destroys your credibility. Second, it tells every employee that if you take the stance of a dinosaur, the change will pass by, even if you lose your job and become extinct in the process. Remain flexible, because you will have to adapt to situations to successfully implement the changes.

8. Keep a positive attitude. Your attitude as a manager or supervisor will be a major factor in determining what type of climate is exhibited by your employees. Your attitude is the one thing that keeps you in control. Change can be stressful and confusing. Try to remain upbeat, positive, and enthusiastic. Foster motivation in others. During times of transition and change, try to compensate your employees for their extra effort. Write a brief note of encouragement on their paychecks; leave an affirming message on their voice mail; take them aside and tell them what a great job they are doing; listen to their comments and suggestions. Last, try to instill organizational change as a personal challenge that everyone can meet…with success!

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Anticipating Employee’s Responses to Organizational Change

When your organization is facing obstacles that require change in order to succeed, staff, ie, the people in the organization, need to change.

Simple, right? Wrong! The problem for managers and supervisors is that most employees do not respond with the attitude of, “Fantastic! Another organizational change. I can’t wait to get started.” We have found that when change is introduced to an organization, or better yet, rumored, employees will respond in one of these three ways:

1. Some of the strongest willed employees will resist organizational change, even when deep down inside they recognize that the change is in the best interests of the organization. Strong-willed employees are dinosaurs. They may be well on the way to extinction, but they will fight it each step of the way.

2. This group’s responses are more moderate ones. These employees will not fight an organizational change because they do not think that the change will have a direct impact on them. They hope that the change will eventually pass by. These employees are rabbits. They will not actively fight the change. Rather, they are like a rabbit in the road who is staring at an upcoming headlight. Unfortunately, in many cases, the headlights are not a small car, but a huge truck. As fast as the environment is changing, the employee is eventually going to be hit!

3. The third type of employees are the ones who are able to accurately assess the future and possess the flexibility to adapt accordingly. These employees are the dolphins. Dolphins, one of the brightest mammals in the ocean, possess the skills to adapt to any environment they swim in. Dolphins are quite comfortable swimming in a pool of carp. They are equally comfortable swimming in a sea of sharks. They successfully adapt to a constantly changing environment. Dolphins are always thinking ahead to what changes they need to make to respond to their rapidly changing environment.

Can you think of any other ways that employees respond to change, positively or negatively? And how do you work with them to successfully implement change?

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Creating a Culture Rich in Innovative Product Development and Creative Problem Solving

Thirty years ago, when you had a unique product, you knew you were probably going to be safe from a competitive price war for two or three years. Today, the time it takes a competitor to figure out what you are doing, copy your product or service, and have it on the market competing head to head with you at a lower price has dropped to days, not months or years. And when everyone has basically the same products and services, it may seem that the only way you can differentiate your products from a competitor’s, is on price. When the only differentiator is price, eventually margins erode and everyone loses.

If a low price doesn’t make you stand out, what will? Innovation. Exactly what is involved in innovation depends on several factors, such as your desired company culture, mission statement, vision etc. For example, Zappos‘ mission is to provide excellent customer service. It is mandatory for all new employees, even executives, to spend four weeks as a customer service representative and one week in the Kentucky warehouse prior to entering their position. Also, Zappos handles a great deal of customer service through their Twitter page and YouTube Channel. They even pay (bribe) their employees to quit in order to ensure that every employee’s interest really is in serving the customers! Watch the video below for more details.

While Zappos’ zainy company culture may not be perfect for every organization, they serve as a great example of how encouraging employees to think out of the box benefits everyone: the employees, the organization and the customers. Recently, we have partnered with clients to create a customized survey that specifically measures their company culture’s ability to produce and market innovative products and services. How does your organization rate in ability to build a culture vibrant in creating innovative products and services?

The following 10 tips will help you build a culture that thrives on innovation and continuous improvement rather than lowering prices to beat out competitors. Competing in a price war is a losing battle. Instead, compete with continuous innovation.

1. Set and communicate clear goals. In many organizations, innovation is considered important, but not urgent, and tends to get postponed into next year’s strategic plan. Ensure that everyone in the company knows that the organization has made a bold decision to out-innovate the competition. Employees need to know what percentage of revenue is coming from existing products that compete solely on price, as well as the predicted revenue percentage derived from new products the organization hopes to produce in the next one, three and five years.

2. Make innovation everyone’s responsibility! For an organization’s brand to prosper, innovation and continuous improvement needs to be everyone’s responsibility. To be a competitor, or better yet, a pioneer in the organization’s industry, innovation should be the responsibility of every employee. As a leader, it is important to remember that each employee, regardless of job title, will have a unique view and valuable feedback about the company’s products or services. Make it part of everyone’s job description to provide constructive feedback and participation in brainstorming, complete with performance goals for each area of influence. Every employee needs to be thinking of how to improve a product or service and better yet, how to create a product or service that is currently not on the market.

3. Provide training and resources. The more innovative an organization is, the more change it creates. Change creates the need for people to learn as well as to create new relationships, principles, policies, programs, processes, practices, products and services. Are you providing your employees with the necessary training and resources to cultivate innovation?

4. Promote cross-functional teamwork. In one department or division, people tend to think alike. It is only when multiple departments, divisions, suppliers, customers, cultures and multi-generations work together, that something truly innovative can be created. The old adage applies here, “If two people in the same room think identically, then one of them is not necessary.”

5. Celebrate mistakes! To create anything new, there will be mistakes. Even when you upgrade software or your cell phone, there are always mistakes as you try to learn the new ways of making the product or service work. When people in your organization try to implement new or innovative ideas and a mistake happens, how do the leaders in your organization respond? Do we publicly blame the employee, or do we praise the employee for taking the risk to improve something, knowing there will be missteps and that not every innovation will be a success? Just ask Apple’s former CEO, John Sculley. After he fired Steve Jobs, he made his pet project, Apple’s first PDA, the Newton, which Sculley believed would define the digital age. It flopped. Even Apple has a list of mistakes… but they continue to out-innovate their competitors.

6. Learn to love ambiguity. When it comes to innovation and continuous improvement, there is no guaranteed success. Waiting for all the data to come trickling in to guarantee that decisions will be correct, only leads to analysis paralysis and offers a great window of opportunity for your competitors who are willing to take a leap on guts and faith.

7. Do not focus on growth! Growth and profits is an outcome of innovative products being in high demand from customers. Focus on innovation now and growth will come later.

8. Gain senior leadership buy-in. It is important to gain as much buy in as you can from senior leaders. But remember, very seldom does the great innovative idea start with the executive team. Most often the idea percolates up from strong willed employees who will not let their great idea be cast aside. Almost always, game changing revolutions start from within, not from the top.

9. Make decisions quickly. The most innovative companies drive decision making down to the lowest possible level and realize that innovative ideas and products are resource generators, not resource detractors. Remove whatever obstacles that may stop people from communicating new ideas to senior leadership in your organization.

10. Reward team success. Many creative people are focused on how many ideas they can get trademarked or patented and approved under their name. As fast as the world is moving, recognizing that it took a cross-functional team to take this innovative product or service to market and beat the competition, will generate more speed and synergy than recognizing individuals. Can individuals still be heroes? You bet. But over time, creative, high functioning teams will almost always out produce any one individual. Place your recognition on the team.

For individualized information on how your company can cultivate innovation, email Peter@pbsconsulting.com and ask about our Innovation Surveys. Conducting an Innovation Survey is one of the most efficient ways to learn how your organization rates in ability to build a culture vibrant in innovative products and services.

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Great Managers Keep Their Employees Uncomfortable!

Most managers feel they should keep everyone on their team happy and comfortable. But, we have found such managers usually have poor long-term job security. They are secure for a period of three to five years, then they are let go or moved to a less significant position by the organization. Why are they moved to positions of less influence? Because the whole world rapidly changed while their focus was on keeping people happy and comfortable. Major problems in the areas of customer satisfaction, quality, timeliness, or cost-competitiveness have usually occurred.

To be successful, your focus needs to be on staying ahead of your competition. The problem with rapid change is that it usually makes people feel uncomfortable, unhappy, and fearful. The following recommendations can help keep your people “uncomfortable” while ensuring your department or firm’s long-term success.

1. Read the writing on the wall. Higher customer demands. Faster service requirements. Increasing quality standards. The economy. Technology. All of these changes are going to have a significant impact on your department’s or organization’s success.

2. Raise the bar! What are you doing to raise the bar for your employees in areas such as customer and employee satisfaction, quality, response time, etc.? If you do not significantly raise the bar, who will? To not raise the bar, even for six months, means the world around you moved forward during that slice of time…but your team did not.

3. Over-communicate the need for change. Managers and leaders usually see the need to change before the general workforce because they have more available information. The more information you provide your employees with regarding your industry, the economy, environment, and your customers, the more people will understand the need to change.

4. Implement fast change…not slow change. Fast change is easier to implement and more accepted by employees than slow change. As one CEO recently stated when faced with the need to rapidly realign the needs of her firm to the competitive environment, “The people are going to change or we are going to change the people.”

5. Hold people accountable for results. Don’t give people the opportunity to blame others for the lack of achieving results. Ensure that everyone is clear about what results are expected from them and in what time frame.

6. Re-define loyalty. In the past, a loyal employee worked for you a long time and followed an informal corporate motto that stated, “Keep your nose to the grindstone and don’t make waves.” Today, the employee who is out there chopping the water-demanding that we change fast to stay one step ahead of our competition-is the loyal employee. The individual who complains that we are not changing fast enough to the new environment is now the loyal employee.

7. Get passionate and excited about change. Talk to customers; talk to the employees on the front line; talk to people in industries different from the industry you are in; read books that talk about innovation; and go out and talk to your competitors. All this will result in an information base to help you become more confident, passionate, and excited about the need to change.

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Expand Trust in your Organization

Good managers, supervisors, and leaders take specific actions to create a climate that is conducive to open and honest communication. In this open communication climate, people feel free to give their input and ideas, information is shared freely, conflicts are openly discussed and worked through, and people are more willing to express innovative ideas and to take risks.

The basis of the open communication climate is trust. The leader establishes an environment of trust within and among all the people in the group. To begin to build or expand trust in your organization and to foster an open communication climate, try some of the following tips.

1. Keep your employees informed.
   We all want to be “in the know.” Take time to keep your employees informed about what is happening within the organization. The more people feel informed about their organization, the better they feel about their participation in that organization. When you do not have the answer or are unsure of the reason for a particular decision, be honest with your employees and do whatever you can to get more information to them as soon as possible.

2. Use a real open door policy.
   Most managers say they have an open door policy. However, employees often quickly find out that although the door may be open, the mind is closed! If you have an open door policy, it means you welcome people to come to your office with their ideas, comments, complaints, and suggestions. It also means that you are open to actively listen to and honestly respond to those who come to see you.

3. Encourage others to express contrary viewpoints.
   Let people know that you expect them to challenge and disagree with you. When they do, let them state their case. Do not interrupt. Look for areas of agreement and be willing to see the others’ perspectives. Once you have a clear understanding of the others’ views, clarify the points that you support and those you cannot support. Provide a thorough explanation as to why you disagree. Help other people understand your perspective by speaking clearly and providing examples and illustrations to clarify your points.

4. Don’t “shoot the messenger.”
   Nothing destroys trust and credibility more than this one. And, unfortunately, this is a common problem in many organizations. A good leader understands that, in today’s complex organizations, people are required to relay messages. If you shoot the messenger one too many times, not only will the messenger not come back again, but everyone else will do whatever it takes to keep information from you.

5. Encourage employees to share information.
   If your employees rely solely on you to keep them informed, you will quickly become overwhelmed and the employees will not get all that they need to do a quality job. Let your staff know that you expect them to share information on a regular basis. Actively involve others in giving updates and sharing other relevant information.

6. Use a variety of tools to disseminate information.
   Be creative. The list is endless but here are a few to start with:

   • Departmental bulletin board
   • Organizational or departmental newsletter
   • Suggestion box
   • Special information-sharing meetings
   • Video or teleconferencing
   • Email

7. Promptly respond to communication from others.
   A general rule of thumb is to get back to people within a maximum of twenty-four hours. A better rule of thumb for some of the people would be to get back within four hours. When someone sends you an email, letter, or phone message, get back as soon as you can to let that person know what you are doing about the concern. Even if you cannot respond with a complete answer or solution right away, you can let them know that you are working on it and that you will get back ASAP. Then, do what you said you would do.

8. Keep your manager informed.
   Managers differ in the amount of information they wish to receive from the people they manage. Take the time to discover what your boss expects from you. How often does he or she expect to hear from you? Does he or she prefer written information (reports or status updates) or a weekly face to face meeting? What types of decisions does he or she expect to be consulted on? When can you make decisions on your own? How much detail does he or she like? If you cannot readily find the answers to these questions, set up a meeting with your boss to go over these kinds of issues. Remember, just as you would expect from your employees, no boss likes surprises.

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