Organisations are now all too familiar with the constant call for change. When people are labelled as cynical, or resistant to change there are often valid reasons for their negative reactions, often rooted in the way in which previous change was communicated, or managed, or clear gap between what was promised and what was delivered as a result of the changes. Change can become a ‘dirty word’; badly delivered or ineffective change leaves lasting emotional memories in people which are triggered by future use of the ‘C’ word.

A typical organisation approach is to the need for change is to create posts with titles such as Change Champion, Change Agent, Performance Consultant; Project managers are either appointed or external Consultants contracted to fill the temporary posts. Temporary functions are also created and labelled: Project teams, Action teams, Change teams, Delivery teams. All of this activity acknowledges and confirms that managing change effectively is challenging and can make the difference between not just success and failure but between triumph and catastrophe.

However, despite great plans, highly motivated teams of ‘change agents’ and the latest IT support, initiatives often fail to deliver in terms of realisable benefits, time frame, or tangible improvements. Worse still any improvements may have unforeseen consequences that challenge the validity of the change in the first place. The temporary and external nature of some change interventions results in a lack of engagement and disaffection with the operational management and staff leading to frustration and resentment on all sides.

Despite this change is happening all around us at a pace and much of it is for the better. Would anyone seriously want to go back to the days before electricity, medicine, engineering, or dare we say it computers? However changes we tend to focus on, or have our attention drawn to, are changes that fail to deliver on promises made or where the impact on people is not as anticipated or not addressed appropriately.

At ValueAdding.com we provide the expertise to help organisations to understand the impact of change on people and so implement change in ways that involve and support people; to ensure that change is delivered with and through not despite the people who will make the changes a success.

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