We hear a lot of lip service about how employees need to be involved in the change process, especially when it involves changing organisational culture. But when is the best time to involve them? A recent article from Knowledge@Wharton (read it here) reports on a major research project that trialled this in a food processing plant. The results are very interesting.
As noted in the article, “supervisors are more effective at guiding change early in the process, when there is greater uncertainty and confusion about the new standards of behaviour, while peers are effective later in the process, when the standards are better understood by everyone.”
The focus of the research was on organisational citizenship, which they explain is “a range of behaviours that promote the social environment of the workplace.” Providing several examples, the authors note that such behaviours are not always “codified” which means it can be hard for newcomers to understand what the behaviours are and what is expected of them in the workplace.
Key to the success of such plans is repetition and practice. It centres on “creating, communicating, and implementing interventions – then measuring their impact.” But it is the timing of these interventions that is key, with supervisors being most important at the beginning, and then ceding control to the employees. That is the tricky part – knowing when to hand it over to employees. Essentially the advice is to give them a chance, and then use minor encouragement and adjustments to correct until such time as they take ownership.
This article gives another good perspective on implementing change and is well worth considering in your next change management attempt.