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Excellence and higher performance require changes: This is our Business

It seems that this topic just never goes away:
Overcoming resistance to employee involvement in organizations.

What is it about our workplace today that seems to resist movement to a concept that has proven itself over and over?

As we are working with organizations over the years to create participative work environments, this question has been central to our thoughts. If one can understand the dynamics of change, both personal and organizational, the probability of success will be greatly enhanced.

What we have learned is that there are five basic elements in creating successful change:

• The desire to change
• The ability to change (very often linked to the acquisition of higher competencies)
• The permission to change (often depending on motivation)
• The action plan
• The follow-up and the acknowledgment of the change

 1. The Desire to Change
Most humans will not change their beliefs, habits, or behaviors unless they are motivated to do so. Most will not change, even if change is for the better, unless there is compelling reason. As long as the perceived rewards of staying as we are remain greater than the rewards of changing, we will likely stay as we are. Or, conversely, as long as the perceived risks of changing are greater than the risks for staying the same, we will be unlikely to change.
Of the five elements required for change, my bias is that desire is most important. Little happens if there is no real motivation to change. And strong motivation frequently makes up for shortcomings in the other four. A central question, then, is how do we create this desire to change?

2. The Ability to Change
If the motivation for change exists, then people will need some assistance developing the skills to change. Ignorant of the dynamics of human behavior, we assume that once people understand the need for change, they will miraculously move in that direction.

However, what holds us back is our ingrained beliefs and resulting behaviors. For example, I may want to become a participative manager but all my previous training has conditioned me to be controlling and directive and, clearly, the decision maker. And down deep inside, I might really have doubts about this employee involvement stuff. To change my beliefs and ultimately my behaviors significantly, I will need some help to activate employees involvement and empowerment.

3. The Permission to Change
There is the issue of permission. When a change is personal, we only have to give ourselves permission to change. But when the change is in an organizational context, permission must be granted by those in power.

I may have the desire to change, and I may have the knowledge and ability to change. But if I work in an environment that doesn't enable me to change, very little will happen. Desire and ability are there, but permission is not. employees often are constrained by those above them and they don't know what to do. They will also need help.

4. The Action Plan to Change
A good concept, the ability, the motivation and the permission will not make the change. There must be an action plan, a road map indicating the various steps that will lead to the objective. The steps should be small enough so that progress can be easily logged. The objective itself will be better defined in sensorial terms (emotional).

5. Follow-up and acknowledgment
Why would someone change if there is not reward? It is important that the person, the team or the company who changed or is in the process of changing, receive a feedback on the achievement or the progress made. So, a means of measuring and reporting progress will have to be developed.