Have a Big Idea to Launch?
By Rob Marchalonis.
Before you implement a significant change that will affect your employees, consider starting with a “test” rather than a final decision. If you plan to mess with a person’s “time, treasure, or trust” be very careful, because emotions and anxiety will likely run high. For example, you may be considering changes related to:
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- Time – such as work hours, flex hours, work-from-home, overtime, travel, or anything schedule related.
- Treasure – responsibility changes that may affect pay rates, employee benefits, added or discontinued perks.
- Trust – accountability, reporting requirements, workplace freedoms (like personal use of company resources, social media.)
By giving some changes a “trial period”, you can significantly reduce employee concerns, perceived risk, and even resistance. Throughout the trial, get feedback from the affected participants, monitor results to ensure you are achieving desired outcomes, and consider ways the change could be improved. Then, after the experimental trial, decide to:
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- Rollout the change permanently.
- Continue testing the change with modifications.
- Reverse or undo the change experiment.
Reduce the Anxiety and Risk of Change
For many changes that will have a big effect on your workers, it’s impossible to adequately understand their reactions, the resultant impact, and better potential alternatives without first testing one or more options. Employers and leaders, use the “test before rollout” approach to make changes more effectively, and maybe more frequently, with less anxiety and risk for your organization, your employees, and yourself.
Rob Marchalonis (Rob@LSP123.com) shares knowledge and experience with leaders to help them increase their organizational productivity and business results. Find more Leadership, Strategy, and Process solutions at LSP123.com
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