Time for a change? Call an expert

The establishment of Auckland's Super City will provide council managers with a major challenge. Photo / Richard Robinson

Throughout the recession many organisations, commercial and not for profit, have taken the opportunity to make changes to their business - to streamline resources, focus on core business or look at possibilities for growth. Done well, this can be very constructive. Done badly it can be disastrous for the business and all who work in it.

John Butters, of John Butters and Associates, Human Resource Consultants, said change management was largely about helping organisations and managers to focus on the people side of change and help the change to succeed.

With every big change, Butters said, come insecurity, grief and resistance. If there have been redundancies, the people left behind will be feeling an amount of grief for the people who have gone. All this means that inevitably there will be a dip in productivity.

"What getting a change manager in can do is to help reduce that dip and resistance and to try to maintain a level of engagement of employees, so that productivity remains."

Butters said there were strategies that help reduce the drop in productivity. "Change agendas distract people. If communications are not two-way and clear, rumours abound and this causes employees to constantly discuss what's going on rather than focusing on work."

Butters said often managers were not equipped to help their employees through change. "Often managers are qualified in their particular occupation and don't manage change every day. So, they rely on human resource or change advisers to do the work of management. However, staff need their managers to be active through the process. A change manager can coach managers through it and help them develop an in-depth knowledge of the process of change."

Butters said most change managers would coach senior management about how to plan for change and how to implement it. "It's about having different tactics and responses for different people at the different stages of change.

"Some staff members will adapt easily, others will end up in shock when they hear the first announcement of changes that are afoot and won't be able to really listen to what's happening. It's possible that they'll miss the message and context of it and immediately jump to the conclusion: 'Crikey, I'm going to lose my job ... what do I tell the family?' rather than giving the organisation feedback that's been asked for."

Butters said managers needed to realise that it was their role to build trust.

"What they say must be followed through into action. There's a problem when there's no connection with what's said and done. The best change managers will ensure that there is a connection.

"Organisations also need to be aware that what staff have to say is of value. Even if there is cynicism in an organisation, the change manager typically has the ear of senior management and staff concerns can be addressed."

Julie Crawley, director of EAP Works, said her company wasn't involved in the strategic planning around change management - but supplies support functions for change. EAP Works is an organisation that co-ordinates a national network of EAP (Employment Assistance Programmes) professionals, qualified psychologists and counsellors to provide a proactive effective support service to workplaces.

She said: "Management makes the decisions and we are available to help them approach things from a people perspective by creating structures and providing workshops and individual help when needed for staff. We assist affected staff - this isn't only those whose roles are being disestablished, but also those who are experiencing losses because of staff who have left.

"There is such a thing as a work family - when a chunk of people are gone, it's often not handled well and remaining staff really feel it. They need help to get through the grief process in order to get back to speed."

Crawley said it was one thing to decide on structures/goals and outcomes, but in the end you wanted to take your people with you - and to do that you needed to know their needs. "People have different ways of reacting according to their temperament and past experiences. What you want is employee buy-in and to have a positive dialogue."

She said different industries and work cultures had different needs - it was knowing what those needs were that could be difficult.

"For managers this can be very stressful - and they can be just as affected by the change as everyone else. People like us are neutral - we're there to help with achieving the goals - whether it's to do with downsizing or changing the culture of an organisation. Statistics show that if change is not handled well, the time of lowered productivity is extended, and of course lower engagement of staff leads to lower engagement of customers."

She said: "We give on-site support - which is tangible evidence for staff that they are valued. We give people the practical support they need at all levels of the organisation, including managers, so that the transition can be as smooth as possible, and the organisation can move forward positively."

So if you're a company going through change, how do your find a change manager? Recruitment companies are aware of the growth of that line of work. Emergent & Co has seen change management as being in such increasing demand, that they've brought on board senior consultant Johnny Bass, who has substantial experience in recruiting people for that type of position. He said: "Change management has become a real profession in its own right and is becoming prevalent in large private and public organisations.

"Take the example of Auckland merging existing councils into the Super City. This is a massive transformational change which, if not done well, will have serious ramifications for the newly formed Auckland Council."

Some examples of work Emergent has recently been involved in have been sourcing contractors to help integrate two large organisations following a merger. This required highly skilled project managers, business analysts and change and communications managers. Emergent also sourced contractors to deliver a complete organisational restructure for a major infrastructure company.

With market conditions continuing to be uncertain and public sector initiatives such as the proposed Auckland Super City, the business of change looks set to grow.

He said in the past year Emergent had seen many organisations going through change. "Predominantly to cope with the global recession but also for reasons such as a change in government and regulatory environments.

"We have noticed an increased demand for contract resource to make change happen - typical requirements are programme/project managers, business analysts, change managers, communications and organisational development people."