Does your business struggle to implement improvement successfully due to employee resistance? The fear of change in role, reduction in job scope and authority creates unease. Since technology adoption is often a necessity to improve service, speed and quality of work, it raises resistance to change further.
To overcome resistance and ensure there is buy in, you need to develop an ownership mindset for embracing improvements. There are three elements to building the ownership mindset.
- Positioning of the initiative
How you position the improvement initiative and hence, the messaging about it could lead to different interpretations of the intent.
Do you want to shed light on a burning platform that requires improvement now?
Do you want to highlight a customer frustration that needs fixing?
Do you want to address a process hurdle that would boost morale when removed?
The positioning message orients the employees. Individuals determine how they would align themselves.
Some would jump on the opportunity because they feel the pain themselves. Some might get anxious because of the uncertainties. Others would be on the defensive to preserve the status quo.
To gain support, you need to position the initiative squarely on why there is a need for it. Emphasize the impacts of the current state and the gain from making the improvement. The goal is to communicate concisely the intent. Share your plan. Be honest and open when responding to questions. How you position the initiative is critical to shedding a positive light right off the bat.
- Engagement during the transition
To develop the ownership mindset, you need to build engagement along the change journey.
Invite representatives from different areas to provide input related to the desired improvement, change approach, and the technology design.
Though most of the above can be addressed by having a cross functional team working on the initiative, there is a tendency that key stakeholders are not engaged early enough.
Bring in subject matter experts to help with technology selection and the solution design. It is too late to reverse course when user testing reveals that the data input screen doesn’t align with the logical flow of work.
In addition, you want to ensure business unit leaders are kept abreast of the improvement initiative. Their support is critical to a successful launch.
Early engagement builds excitement and buy-in, which translate into participation. That is when the ownership mindset develops.
- Improvement culture
Does your business have an improvement culture where employees are receptive to improvement efforts? Are managers keen to initiate change when they spot opportunities?
An improvement culture is built on a consistent practice of making progressive changes where they make sense. It is manifested through active problem identification and commitment to come up with solutions.
With an improvement culture, teams are open and honest about issues. They are objective and impartial in coming up with improvements. They put the customers and business first. They are adaptive to change. They are motivated by happy customers and collaboration that make work easier for everyone.
As leaders for a business, you need to champion the development of an improvement culture. You foster the culture by supporting your team, helping them with positioning improvement initiatives in a manner that gets buy-in, ensuring early stakeholder engagement to get commitment, and consistently reinforcing an open mind to improvement.
When employees take ownership of the improvement, they are committed and eager to make the change a success. They take pride in rallying support and championing the transition. The ownership mindset for improvement enables your business to have an expanded team of improvement evangelists that are excited to collaborate and steer their peers through the transition.
For more tips on change communication, listen to Change Management Communication Strategy.
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