Everyone knows that communication is a critical element of organizational change. Unfortunately, leadership often gets it wrong.
I like to keep things simple and, in this case, I view that there are four levels of communication related to change when focusing at the employee level:
- Information
- Understanding
- Agreement
- Behavior Change
Simple enough, right? What could possibly go wrong? Here’s what:
- Leaders FOCUS far too extensively on providing (spewing) information.
✔️ A leader’s actions speak louder than words. People support what they create. Employee inclusion and buy-in are critical to the change effort.
- Leaders ASSUME that employees understand the information provided.
✔️ Effective communication demands quality and quantity. Change is all about pace…and employees are frequently left behind.
- Leaders EXPECT that employees agree with the reasons for the change and what change needs to occur.
✔️ Resistance is inevitable. Commitment to the past hinders change in the future. Connecting to the head and the heart builds commitment.
- Leaders often under-appreciate (or even IGNORE) the behavior change that needs to occur at the employee level.
✔️ Organizations change when people change. Sustaining change takes support and reinforcement.
There are myriad reasons why change initiatives have such a high failure rate, but making certain that the communications are timely and effective is a great place to focus to improve the opportunity for success.
Bottom line: My belief is that the communication around the change can be just as important as the change itself!