3 Prerequisites to Boost Your Next Change Initiative [Lessons from The Human Age Forum]
If you are a business professional, you would probably agree that very often companies fail at implementing change in certain departments or functions. One of the reasons I believe this occurs is because companies forget to look whether their foundations are ready to be tested with a transformational project.
I was fortunate to organize the Human Age Forum last week, listen to wonderful keynotes and moderate a very insightful panel session, all of which revolved around talent, HR, and transformation related topics.
Listening to experts from the industry allowed me to realize the importance of the following 3 prerequisites to give your next change initiative a significant boost:
1- Change makers who possess CRC traits
This point was shared by Mr. Jeremy Lee who was stressing the importance of:
Care, Resilience, and Curiosity as fundamental traits in facing uncertain future.
You need people who who “Care”. They are the ones who have a strong passion for something. They possess a sense of purpose and take responsibility for meeting goals. You also need those who are “Resilient”.
Those who are committed and systematically overcome challenges without giving up. Being “Curious” allows growth and can help with unforeseen developments.
Your team should have hunger to learn, understand why things are as they are and not otherwise, and question the status quo for innovation to take place.
These traits by the way mirror my views on the work values that will stand the test of time.
2- Brand’s personal and human connection
We tend to be significantly more involved when we feel that we are deeply connected to a person. This is why many NGOs share stories of a single individual or a family rather than discuss overall statistics in their marketing campaigns. Therefore, it is important for your brand to have a face.
An ambassador who will personify what your company stands for, reflect its values, and build personal connections with stakeholders including internal teams.
Having this strong personal connection between those who are impacted by the change and the brand, will make them much more inclined to connect their personal interests with the ones of the company.
This point was highlighted by Dr. Aj Minai in his talk about attracting and retaining young people to your organization. He stressed that for young people it is important to develop a human connection with the company rather than merely an employer – employee relationship.
3- Solid understanding the current state
This prerequisite is more technical in nature. A very valuable evaluation model was presented by Ms. Dalia Alkatiri.
This model allows to look at the current state from 4 dimensions. Organizational Agility refers to the overall ability of the company to move quickly and adapt to changing conditions.
Digital Savviness refers to the levels of comfort that employees have when it comes to digital tools. Process Readiness is about evaluating whether processes at hand are understood and standardized well enough to be digitized.
Lastly, Stakeholders' Engagement is about the levels of urgency that impacted stakeholders posses to be motivated for making necessary changes.
All these factors determine your approach and strategy in driving improvement and innovation at your company.
Overall, from my experience, any change initiative will require much more than these 3 prerequisites.
However, I find them to be a very good starting point for a constructive thought process and will serve as effective boosters to make a long lasting and a quicker transformation.
Originally posted on LinkedIn
