Change is Good: Opportunities for growth and coaching through them.
Change is inevitable and nothing is constant in our personal and professional lives. It is often quite a challenge for employees to buy into change, especially when things have been stagnant for a long time. Change isn’t always negative for the employee and often may bring some direct benefits. Depending on their experiences and emotional intelligence the difficultly of dealing with a change may vary. However, in the end any change is a way for us all to grow and strengthen ourselves. With that being said, change is still difficult for many and may require substantial coaching to process.
Gaining Buy-In Through Change
When dealing with any change or strategic planning, employee buy-in is a important to a successful implementation of any change. This may be accomplished through either internal or external coaching.
Communicating the Need and Background
People fear things they don’t understand and their first instinct may be to resist. When this is coupled with the inherent nature to avoid confrontation, this can be a powerful recipe for anxiety. It is important for an individual to not perceive change or the individuals leading the change as a threat. For employees to buy in to the change and ultimately maintain loyalty communication is key in this process. Providing the individual with an understanding can build trust, loyalty, and ultimately make the process somewhat smoother for all.
Minimizing Adverse Impacts
Negative impacts and the perception of negative impacts to employees are other reasons many will automatically fear and resist change. With a sense of self protection, many individuals will do their best to avoid the stress of changing what they are doing or having to learn new skills. This will ultimately cause more stress for the individuals, but will also immediately hurt the business process. Building on communication, understanding the employee’s skills as well as their understanding of the business is important to minimize the adverse impacts. This knowledge can benefit the organization and employee by allowing any changes to be better aligned with skillsets and goals. Coaching is a valuable tool which can be used to gain awareness through this process.
Empathic Response
The individuals experiencing change may have very strong emotions and resistance to change. While it may be a challenge for those leading change, it is important to maintain a high level of empathy throughout this process. Individuals must have the time to process the change, adjust, and understand their role. This can be a very trying time for those leading change as well. Going into the process, coaching is something which can be leveraged for the leaders to better understand the situation and their own thoughts.
Remaining Resistance
With all of the emotions at hand, there may be some resistance remaining. Those leading the change must be aware and ready for the resistance that comes from other individuals. This resistance can come from subordinates or other stakeholders. In the event that resistance cannot be overcome, it is important to address quickly but in a productive manner. While you may lose an employee, poor handling of the situation could have implications on otherwise loyal employees.
While change is be an extremely stressful time for all involved, it can also be extremely rewarding and bring an immense amount of opportunities as well. It is important to remember that through the process, there may be outside expertise or coaching required to being about an efficient and effective change.
