The Four Drivers of Successful Change Management Edwin T. Cornelius III, Ph.D. In this article, we outline a general model of the factors involved in successful planned change initiatives. We call our framework to implement a successful, planned change the U,S,E,M model. Implementing a Planned Change At the macro level, we believe there are four drivers of successful change management and we label these four drivers as Understand, Skills, Environment, and Motivation. IMPLEMENTING PLANNED CHANGE U, S, E, M Understand Skills Environment Motivation 2016 Cornelius & Associates 1
In order to have a successful planned change initiative, we need to incorporate these four critical factors into our plan. Each factor is described below. Factor 1: Understand The first ingredient for a successful change initiative is to ensure that stakeholders UNDERSTAND what the change is about and why it s being carried out. This means there must be an aggressive upfront and continual communication effort, including stakeholder focus groups, one-onone discussions, town hall sessions, email campaigns, chat boards, printed brochures, committee meetings, and perhaps a Change Information Website that is accessible to stakeholders effected by the change. From a communication standpoint, it is critical that stakeholders learn the answers to questions such as: 1. What specifically are we going to change? 2. Why are we going to change? 3. What is the project plan? 4. When is the change going to take place? 5. How long is it going to take? 6. Who will be involved? On the more personal side, individual stakeholders will want to know: 1. How will I be involved in this change? 2. When will I be involved? 3. How will this change have an impact on my job/role on campus? 4. What new skills will I need to succeed in this change? If the change plan does not involve thorough, frequent, and honest answers to these questions, the likelihood of a successful change lessens. Communication is the first critical factor in any successful change implementation. 2016 Cornelius & Associates 2
Factor 2: Skills The second ingredient for a successful change initiative is to ensure that stakeholders are given the SKILLS training that will be required to make a successful change. Of course, not all change initiatives will require new skills training. For example, many policy changes need only briefings and information sharing sessions to accommodate the change. More complex changes usually require more of an effort. For example, merging two functional departments within the organization would be a more complex change. This change would require more focus: a series of briefing sessions, role clarification sessions, policy changes, possibly some training sessions, and likely facilitated problem solving sessions involving logistics, such as moving to another building, etc. More complex kinds of changes could involve new business process changes that cut across more than one group, department, or function within the organization. These types of changes would likely involve training in new processes and possibly would involve training in new skillsets. For a complex change management intervention to be successful, training sessions on new processes and new skills are critical to a successful change implementation. 2016 Cornelius & Associates 3
Factor 3: Environment The third ingredient for a successful change initiative is to remove the barriers in the ENVIRONMENT that might prevent a successful change. In a typical business environment, possible environmental barriers to success could entail such issues as: 1. Not enough resources to make the change 2. Lack of staffing to make the change 3. No overtime to work on the change initiative 4. Too many current projects, duties, and/or responsibilities 5. No clear priorities that have been communicated (i.e. everything is important ) 6. Politics in selected departments 7. Lack of teamwork across departments 8. Lack of support from the leadership team This list is not inclusive and many other barriers could present themselves. Also, many of these environmental barriers are beyond the control of any one particular change leader. Hence, success in removing barriers in the environment will require strong leadership. When many environmental barriers come into the change process, it is typically our recommendation that the company charter an Organization Change Management (OCM) Steering Committee to address those barriers and to assign a senior level leader to sponsor and champion the OCM Steering Committee. A strong OCM Steering Committee is going to be required to make the tough decisions to help remove the barriers to the change management intervention. Factor 4: Motivation The fourth ingredient for change is a group of stakeholders who are truly MOTIVATED to accomplish the goals of the change project! The organization will need a number of committed people who share the vision, passion, and the energy to help the transformation succeed. In some situations you will find certain stakeholders across the organization may not be particularly motivated about the change event. Fortunately, there are a number of conditions that help facilitate commitment to the change: 2016 Cornelius & Associates 4
1. Visionary Leadership - In our experience, a Visionary Leader (hopefully the CEO, department head, or some respected senior leader) can help the cause of motivation for the change. The Visionary Leader can usually rally people together to get something done of great importance. This has been helpful in a number of change instances. 2. A history of successful change - A second condition for motivation is a history of successful past change projects. Success in the past makes it easier to rally employees around the goals of the current change event. 3. Involvement and engagement - Generally, people are more likely to accept change if they were involved in some way in either the decision making of the change or in the implementation of the change. For that reason, we often carry out focus groups and individual interviews to allow stakeholders to convey their suggestions about the change. 4. Modeling by middle management - Another vehicle for fostering motivation for the change project is when managers frequently model and support the goals of the change in both public and private venues. For example, if the managers of all facilities and functions seem to support the goals of the change, it is much easier to sell others on the change. 5. Modeling by organizational executives - Further, if senior level leaders, such as the President, the CEO, the CFO, the VP for Production, and other key executives support the change goals, then it helps in terms of commitment to the change by others. Strong support from executives bodes well for the eventual success of the change project. 6. Rewards. Another motivational factor is rewards. Although some organizations are willing and able to pay bonuses to key people who have worked hard to achieve the change goals, it is our recommendation that rewards should be more along the line of group celebrations (meals, parties, token presents, etc.) for milestones accomplished during the project timeline. 2016 Cornelius & Associates 5
Two Last Thoughts Two last thoughts, or rather, two last rules to consider regarding the four drivers of successful change: 1. The Two-Thirds Rule. My experience as an organizational psychologist for the last 35 years is as follows: if you can get sixty percent (or about two-thirds) of the people to want to do something, then generally the rest will follow. 2. The U, S, E rule. In a large number of change situations, we have learned that if you do a good job of taking care of understand, skills, and environment, then typically, motivation takes care of itself and does not cause a problem. Summary In this article we examined the four drivers of successful change management, called the U, S, E, M model. The first driver of success, understand, ensures that stakeholders know what the change is about and why it s being carried out. The second driver of success, skills, states that employees should be given the skills training that will be required to make a successful change. The third driver, environment, is about removing barriers in the environment that might prevent a successful change. The fourth driver, motivation, helps stakeholders to become committed to the goals of the change project. 2016 Cornelius & Associates 6