All change management initiatives require initial planning. Prior to any organizational change, chief HR officers (CHROs) need to work with their team and other leaders to devise a step-by-step change management strategy.
Forming a strategy will help the company navigate the change with minimal disruption. Creating an effective strategy requires four steps: defining the reason for the change, identifying who will spearhead the initiative, determining the appropriate methods for communicating about the change and deciding how to handle employee resistance.
1. Define why the change is happening
Senior leadership must first articulate why the proposed change needs to happen. The CHRO should take charge of this process.
Defining why the change must happen will make it easier to create communication for employees about the change.
During this process, CHROs can work with department managers to learn how the change will affect each team and potentially make adjustments to minimize negative impacts. For example, senior leaders might decide to delay a software implementation so the new technology doesn't go live during the end of a quarter, when employees are already busy.
Senior leaders can also share the steps for implementing the change with department managers so that the managers can weigh in on any potential problems and flag any steps that might have been left out. For example, a manager might tell leaders they have forgotten to create communication about the change for contract employees.
2. Select a leader for the change
The CHRO and the other members of the C-suite should then appoint a senior manager who will serve as a change resource for employees and external vendors.
HR can help identify the best person for this role, or the company might decide to hire a change management professional. A change management professional’s duties include creating a roadmap with timelines and deliverables, establishing and monitoring KPIs and directing the process through rollout.
3. Decide how communication will happen
CHROs must develop a communication strategy for informing employees -- and possibly clients -- about the change. Ongoing communication is essential, and overcommunicating is better than assuming that stakeholders are aware of everything that is going on.
CHROs should not assume that communicating about a change is a one-and-done task. Leaders should communicate about training opportunities, adjustments to workflow and compliance requirements during town halls and through email.
CHROs should also consider the geography of their workforce when planning how the company will communicate about the change. For example, if an organization employs some remote workers, leaders should hold a mix of in-person and Zoom meetings.
4. Plan for resistance
Anticipating and deciding how to respond to resistance from employees is the CHRO's responsibility, and it is a crucial step in the process.
In addition to being candid about how the change will affect employees and looping them in before final decisions are made, proactive steps include brainstorming potential employee questions and effective responses with other members of the C-suite. Employees are less likely to be resistant when they feel that they have had a say in how the change will be managed and what it will involve.
Lynda Spiegel is a freelance writer and former global HR executive for financial services, telecommunications and SaaS companies.