When a team is faced with change it is important for the leader to link the change effort to a deeply felt and shared value the leader has with the rest of the team. This step is an important step to cross the divide that exists between the executive office and the employees who must now implement the changes.
In most hierarchical organizations it is often expected that the need for change will be passed from one leader in the chain of command to the next, ending with a coherent message to every employee in the company. The problem is that the reality for the employee and first line managers is distinct from those who created the original message at the executive level. Because of this cultural difference, the language and arguments used by senior managers may not resonate with employees at the operator level. Since employees personify the company in their immediate supervisor, if the team leader simply delivers the same message they heard from his or her leaders or if they only hear the "corporate spin", it is difficult to expect that the team will receive the message with much if any enthusiasm. It is likely that distractions, rumors, and complaints will increase if the leader doesn't first consider how to link the message to the values and needs of the team. This is the opportunity for the team leader to reflect on the message, internalize it, and personalize it so that it resonates better with the team.
Most change initiatives are started out high in the organization by executives who is looking out to improve economic performance of the company, improving the stock price, or more selfish reasons like providing a challenge to their own career. Thus, change initiatives are often created in the image of the executive culture who conceived them. They are portrayed as opportunities for better growth, higher returns, improved systems, etc. Not exactly the stuff that resonates with team members who are asking themselves what this will mean for them, or, what the company is about to do to them!
While most managers at all levels are comfortable delivering a straight forward message about the business reasons for the change, and providing the numbers and the facts and figures and processes, etc., they struggle in finding a way to link the data to any values. However, for the link to be made to the employee there needs to be an expressed value of why this is happening to them in the first place.
To do this, a leader needs time to reflect on the message and link it to some personal value in order for them to feel energized about the message. For example, if a new bonus system will be implemented that will now pay all sales bonus as a team effort, instead of individual efforts, there will be those who will complain about they system because they feel that it will not reward their own personal efforts any longer, or that they will be forced to carry the team, or any other of a long list of complaints. If the immediate manager can link this change to a value, for example, the value of team work and the need of community to support one another, then he or she can build the rest of the message using their own experiences, stories, metaphors, etc., to create the message. Spending time to reflect on what the change means, and looking back at life experiences in order to find the link to the core value that the leader feels will connect with his or her team is essential in order to generate interest in the team members.
I recently worked with a team of managers that had just received word their company was facing a 25% across the board reduction in force. The company had explained in great detail their financial pressures that had caused them to take this action. They had even taken time to express their regret and concerns for those who would be asked to leave. Still, the managers knew that the employees that remained would remain discouraged and that performance would certainly drop. If they did not find a way to address this issue with their teams they knew rumors would persist and performance suffer. We spent the day exploring ways to link this message to key values that would resonate with their teams and ways to communicate the message that could help to refocus energy. I have found that managers don't like to spend time thinking about this type of message because they are afraid of the conversation they will have. However, not addressing this increases the likelihood that the team will not recover and performance will suffer. By taking time to think about the strengths of the team, past hurdles they have overcome, past challenges and achievements, the leaders began to find the link that will connect the coming change and the values of those who will have to implement it. This helps move the concept from an abstract business idea, supported with facts and figures, to something the individual can relate to.
