NHRD Journal - National HRD Network

true requirement of the company or a good-todo
thing because it appears to be 'best practice'.
Also, what is the impact that it is expected to
make. A diagnosis of the current state is critical
to understand the extent and nature of change
that can be introduced. For example, 360
feedback cannot be introduced in a company
that has never done assessments seriously.
Incremental steps are always long lasting than
wide-scale change introduced in a hurry.
• Communicate objectives and change
process
Communication is not only about informing
people about the initiatives, but targeting the
communication to the audience, thinking
through channels of communication and
building feedback mechanisms to ensure that
the messages have been understood.
Communication is most credible when there is
active participation of the project sponsors, in
particular, the top management.
• Engage people
If people feel that it is an organization-wide
initiative and everyone has a role to play, their
participation and ownership is that much more
real and involved.
• Build change communities
All organizations have people forming informal
cohorts and support groups. These are
particularly useful in a change program, as they
can be used to spread formal and informal
messages and also build acceptance.
organizations can also orchestrate these by
creating self-help teams that work on making
the new initiative work and seeing people
through it.
• Evaluate and measure success
Often companies assess achievement of change
objectives after they are completed. This aspect
actually needs to be considered before the
change programme is introduced.
Measurement should take place through the
programme to ensure it is working and course
correction should be made based on feedback
received. Pilot projects for large initiatives are
often very useful for collecting early feedback
on what are likely to be the key issues.
• Reinforce positive change behaviours
It's a simple Pavlovian principle. No change
will last if there is no incentive to make it long
lasting. So reward and recognition mechanisms
that reinforce the changed behaviours are
critical to any change programme. For example,
a line manager may enjoy giving employee
feedback once in a while, but s/he will make
employee development planning a regimen if
it also impacts his or her success.
• Grow and develop during change
Finally, most often, change involves acquiring
some new skill sets or using new processes or
methods. People should get the desired
training, coaching and technology support to
adopt change faster and effectively. Training
also gives employees the confidence of having
acquired newer skill sets, thereby building a
positive attitude to the change initiative.
• Coping with Poorly Planned Change
Having said all of this, we don't always have the
luxury to plan things or be in control of the
circumstances. Typically, this happens when a
mangers joins an organization while some
programme has been or is being implemented.
Several HR managers will recount the nightmares
they experienced when they joined and had to
grapple with the impact of an ERP solution
introduced in a hurry or a 360 programme
launched without a plan for follow up action.
Often, they would also have been blamed for
everything that went wrong! However painful it
may be, we cannot avoid dealing with this form
of change as well; one that we were not
instrumental in introducing, but nevertheless
have to deal with. So where do we begin?
• Seek Feedback
The first way of building credibility is to seek
feedback on what has worked and what has not.
This instils confidence in people that you would
like to do something about it. Depending on the
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November 2007 NHRD Journal