We are living in truly fascinating times.With what many are calling the 4th industrial revolution, the rapid introduction of new technologies are having a profound impact on our lives at home and work.Within the realm of my professional life as a Human Resources practitioner, I see the impact of change daily.As humans, we perceive the world though our own unique lens.What may be energizing and engaging to some may trigger thoughts of job loss, fear, and anxiety in others.Personally, I see opportunities that come with the introduction of new technologies, butI have also seen leaders actively work against these objectives— often resulting in poor outcomes.
As organizations rush to gain the competitive advantage, manyare recognizing the critical role of formally investing in People Change Management(PCM)tofacilitate the absorption, processing,andbehavioural changesthat support the adoption of new technologies.Let’slook at ways to define, manage and sustain the change using fundamental elements of PCM.
Defining the Change:Technology should align with strategic priorities
When considering the development or purchase of new technology, each organization should have a clear set of strategic prioritiesthat create its competitive advantage. Examples could be an aim to deliver a best-in-class customer experience like that of Amazon, or to implement a leansupply chainlike Walmart,or to create an innovative set of product offeringslike Apple.
Aclientof mine, the owner of a small professional services firm, was recently looking to build on her competitive advantage of deep expertise within the market she serves. She wanted to focus her organization’s efforts on developing better relationships with her clients.Through our coaching engagement, she decided to focus her energy on defininga new Client Experience (CX) and then configurea new Customer Relationship Manager (CRM).We identified that thenew behaviours and tools required for a successful shift would require PCM to ensure adoption.
Defining the Change:Power of co-generating a solution
Once the scope of the coaching engagement was defined,we set out to explore how her clients engage with her firm, how the firm pursuesand winsbusiness, how her firm determines the scopeof its service offerings,and how her firmdelivers and differentiates its offerings in the market.
To ensure that we develop an idealCX grounded in reality, we will engage a cross section of her clients and employees to define the current state of the CX.From there we will ideate on ways to elevate the CX and validate the CRMimplementation plan.By co-generating with a cross section of stakeholders, participants have an opportunity to design, absorb and process the CX initiative leading to early buy-in and support.Later, this cross section of employees will form what JohnKotter called the “Guiding Coalition” providing the leadershipsupport needed to bring the CX-CRM initiative to life.
Preparing for Change: Resistance is a natural human response to change
Fear and resistance to change is a natural and deeply human experience.From a psychological perspective, our brains are hardwired to respond emotionally to stimulithat we perceive as a threat through the fight or flight response.It is only later that our cerebral cortex starts to process the details, mobilizesenergy,and shifts to taking theactions needed to incorporate the change into our new reality.
It should be noted that resistance may manifest itself in a variety of behaviours, including silence, passive aggression, highly critical behaviours, and even sabotaging the initiative.In this case, the ability to spot the various forms of resistance is key to managing resistance in all its forms.
Managing the Change: Threecohorts
Given that each of us see the world through our own unique lens, changes such as the adoption of new technologies can fall into three cohorts.The “Early Adopter” cohortconsists of those who see opportunity with the new technology and provide support for the transformation program.Early adopters should be rewarded and celebrated.The “On the Fence” cohort is defined by those who are neutral to the introduction ofnew technologies.This cohort can see the pros and cons of a change program and need some coaching to make the shift.Taking time to understand their perspective andengagingvarious PCM supportscan help them transition and integrate the change into their new reality.The final category is the “blockers.”Blockers perceive the introduction of new technology as a threatand focus their energy on actively resisting the adoption of new technology.John Kotter noted that a well-positioned blockercan derail a transformation effort.In my experience, early identification of blockers and managing them on a case-by-case basis is critical to transformation success.
Managing the Change: Key role of leadership
Leaders play a critical role in supportingthe adoption ofany technology. Success comes when leaderscommunicatesupport and take necessary action to implement and coach people through the change itself. As leaders play a key role in the change effort, I have found that one of the most effective supports for leaders of change is the role of “transformation coaching.”By providing a trained coach, leaders of changehave a safe space to dialogue, explore ideas, strategize about a vision for the change, manage the resistance to change,and incorporatebest practices in PCM.
Managing the Change:Communication and the power of context
Once the “Guiding Coalition” is formed, clear communication focused on the context that led to the adoption of the new technology is critical.In the process of creating your communications, it is important to outline the benefits of the technology, including how it will solve business challenges. It is also beneficial to discuss a realistic set of obstacles the new technology will bring.
In this case, I work with clients to unleash the power of context through story telling based on a realistic overview of the current market environment along with testimonials of clients and employees who contributed to the development of successful CX initiatives.
As part of the communication materials for theguiding coalition, we are developing an infographic that complements the CX narrative.The graphic will visually illustrate the Client Experience Cycle, share key findings from voice-of-the-clientinterviews, outline key client touchpoints and client-focused behaviours,and indicate how the use of the CRM will capture meaningful insights leading to further growth and prosperity of the firm.
Managing the Change:Agile feedback loops
During the “go live” phase of the upcoming CX initiative and CRM launch for my aforementioned client, the guiding coalition will keep a pulse on the voice of the employees and check in daily with positive and negative updates.For positive feedback, it is important to celebrate openly and respond to the constructive concerns in a transparent and timely manner. During a previous system deployment, a significant bug was identified on Day 1 of go-live. By Day 3, the bug was resolved.The agile feedback loop combined with a rapid response demonstrated an organizational commitment to the success of the program.
Managing the Change:Interpersonal and technical skill development
As organizations prepare to introduce new technologies, support for the technology must include an assessment of competency gaps in the technical or interpersonal domain.In the case of my client’s new CX-CRM program, we are working on defining the interpersonal competenciesand behaviours.
Once the competencies are identified, we will design a training experience based on adult learning principles to introduce the client-focused behaviours.To support learning, employees who are exceptional with clients will take the role of coaches who work with employees to bring the initiative to life.In addition, a set of short videos demonstrating key features of the CRM will be created for visual learners.
Sustaining the Change:Making it stick
Once theenergy of the go-live periodhas subsided, our focus will shift to embedding the change into the organization.Simply put, we will incorporate the change into how the organization operates.Making the change stick and embedding the change into the organization will involve integratingnew technologies into various talent management programs. Steps will includeselecting talentwho will support the new technology, updating onboarding to reflect the technology, providinglearning management system-based training programs, updating mentoring programs, and rewarding the adoption of new technologies in the compensation management program.
With industry 4.0 well underway, the pace of technological change and transformation will only accelerate.In the case of my current client, we will work to support the adoption of the new behaviours and technical requirements of the CX-CRM initiative.By doing so, their organization will elevate their client experience, resulting in further growth.Fortunately, the field of people change management has evolved over the past decades and provides pragmatic tools to ensure that people may absorb, processand translate new behaviours and technologies into a sustained new reality. In short, digital transformation is people transformation.
Mark Beagan has worked for over 30 years in Human Resources and Organizational Change Management with a focus on mergers, acquisitions and introduction of various technologies. Mark is an executive coach and the founder of Beamar Coaching & Consulting.
