Getting Employees Unstuck for Change
Some behavioral styles covet, chase, and create change. At the other end of the spectrum are those who appall, avoid, and avert change like the plague. In the middle are those who waver, wait, and watch change before getting on board. What does all this mean to an executive or manager tasked with making change happen?
The first group are your allies and can even help move change along. However, care must be taken that they do not create chaos, especially when change is not on the schedule. The middle group are employees whom you can expect the same from almost no matter what the change. They aren’t budging. This is not a group to spend a lot of time on trying to convince or bring on board. But they may need a change themselves – a change of team, department, or even employment. The last group will cost you time and resources.
The plane banked at 41 degrees, when it is rare to hit a 25-degree roll. A window broke and shrapnel began spraying into the aircraft, a passenger was partially sucked out and later passed away. In another incident a flock of Canadian geese hit an airplane disabling it and ultimately winding up in the Hudson River.
Gathering data for a variety of reasons is a big deal for business. In addition, not only are there a variety of areas a business needs to be collecting data in, but there are also a variety of types of analytics producing data such as predictive, descriptive, prescriptive, and causal analytics. Collecting any data can be time consuming and expensive. However, the answers and possible solutions data can bring are well worth the effort.
There is plenty of conflict to go around these days. The “Me” in the title of this article is not me but you. So, let’s clear that up right now. I’m the center of enough of my own conflicts without being a part of yours. The three main ‘me’ conflicts are Me – Me, Me – You, and Me – Job. Those of us who work with behavioral management are attune to these three and a good coach or mentor can spot them quickly and the good news is that there are clear methods to deal with each of them.
Many of you will recognize these lyrics from the 1969 tune No Time by The Guess Who. Not having time for coaching is a message that continues to drone on by both managers who should be conducting it and individuals who should be engaging in it. However, we seem to be able to make time for low productivity, employee disengagement, failure to set goals, a lack of innovation…well I could drone on and on too.
Many organizations mull over the question of whether to use assessments. If an organization does decide to use assessments, now a Pandora’s box of questions beg for attention. Which assessment(s) should we use? How should we use them? Can assessments really give us any answers and provide solutions? Does one size fit all? How accurate can they be? Can we afford them? Etc., etc., etc. The good news is that these questions and concerns have relatively easy answers.
The Cost
Before the turn off the 20th Century, work teams and the communication resources available were quite different than today. “Work teams” in almost every nation were farmers. Not only were communication resources nonexistent, because of the physical distance between farms, even face-to-face communication probably only took place during worship events, or other local events. The second largest group, live-in house servants did not have communication opportunities or resources either.