You might not know why you would even need a change readiness assessment if you don’t understand what it is. In this article, I want to give you a general understanding of what a change readiness assessment is. Readiness for what? First, it is important to understand what we are talking about. When we say readiness to change, what are we talking about? Are we talking about readiness to begin a change project? Is it like being prepared [...]
In this article we examine the perceptions people have of how much change occurs in a workplace, and how those perceptions affect behaviours. In a 2017 article in the British Journal of Management*, Rafferty and Jimmieson comment on this issue. Let’s examine what they say. A subjective matter How much is too much? How much is just right? How much is not much? How you answer questions like these would vary from person to person. It’s similar when [...]
Managers are often aware when employees resist change. Resistance is usually a visible thing – people complain, tell negative stories, or get annoyed. But change fatigue is hidden and managers often fail to recognise it. According to McMillan & Perron (2013), “staff experiencing change fatigue simply shut off and become withdrawn, taking no steps to address issues relating to change initiatives.” Contributing factors Here are some factors that contribute to change fatigue: Perceived lack of control – employees feel [...]
This article examines why people find change difficult and how managers and leaders can help employees find success. We all know change is, at times, demanding. It takes us outside our comfort zone and challenge us at every level. In a 2017 article in the British Journal of Management*, Rafferty and Jimmieson explore three demands that cause people to struggle. Let’s look at them. Disturbance The authors write, “any modification to habitual patterns is disturbing, as functioning in [...]
How are change readiness and change fitness similar, and how are they different? They are similar in that they both relate to the change process. One is about being fit for the change process and the other is about being ready for it. The Marathon For example, think of a significant change as though it were a marathon that must be run – it is long, demanding, and difficult. If you’re not fit enough to run the distance, [...]
Getting ready to begin a change is certainly important. Many people think change readiness is mainly about getting ready to begin – organising things in preparation and ticking off the checklist. Sure, this is important, but it is a long way from what change readiness means. To be ready for change is not to be ready only for the beginning of the change process, but to be ready for all the change process. It is readiness to complete [...]
This article will help you understand how to assess change readiness in an organisation. This is important information if you manage organisational change. Change readiness has been on my horizon for almost 20 years. It was the topic of my PhD research and for the past decade it has been the focus of my business. Therefore, in this article I want to help you understand what change readiness is and how to assess it. Organisational Change Readiness In [...]
We need to start thinking more systemically about organisational change. I mean, we need to move beyond the first A (acceptance) and start thinking about the other two (acceptance and adaptability). Approach Lewin, Hiatt, Kotter and others have helped us think in terms of the first ‘A’ – how managers should approach organisational change. And it's true - the way managers and leaders approach change makes a difference to how things turn out. They need to clearly understand [...]
Change fitness supports performance Change fitness doesn’t only help you change – change fitness also helps you perform. In the modern world, our ability to perform is increasingly dependent on our ability to change. In the past, performance was largely measured by how good we became at doing a given task – like making horse shoes. If you have good hand/eye co-ordination and you make horse shoes long enough, you become a high-performance worker. But things change so [...]
SWOT When seeking to manage organisational change, it is important to identify and leverage your strengths. A useful methodology to use is a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). In this article, I want to consider two areas of individual differences that could inform a SWOT analysis, and how those differences could be leveraged. Individuals can be different in many ways. There are ethnic and cultural differences, differences in training and education, gender differences, differences in roles and [...]