Take a look in the mirrors - and make your change programmes more effective
Many organisational change programmes fail. This is
indisputable fact, but the reasons for failure are often less
clear and will depend on who you ask. Failure is often
attributed to insufficient investment, yet occasionally even
over investment can contribute to reduced success. Lack of
senior project sponsorship can be a contributing factor, as
can lack of middle management commitment. Initiative overload
regularly takes the blame.
So why then do change projects fail so often?
There is one common link in all underperforming change
initiatives – people within the organisation fail to make the
permanent behavioural changes needed to embed the change, so
the organisation does not learn.
What’s behaviour got to do with it?
In organisational change terms behaviour is everything, but
often organisations are seduced by other ‘solutions’:
- Enterprise wide software is purchased (often at huge
cost) and assumed to be automatically transformational
- Major ‘sheep dip’ training initiatives that focus on the
hype of being different
- Looking at values development from the perspective of
laminated cards and the CEOs exhortations
Yet none of these interventions can work without real and
lasting behavioural change, and often the behavioural change
expected from your employees is underestimated or even
ignored.
Without fully understanding what it is that you expect to
change, properly communicating those behaviours and embedding
them within your performance management framework it will be
difficult to implement successful change in your organisation.
So it’s about communicating what we want to change?
Almost! It is critical that everyone understands what is
expected of them, and those expectations need to be explicitly
expressed in terms that everyone understands and can relate to
their day to day activities. However, communicating the
changes needed out to employees isn’t enough.
Have you ever seen a video recording of
yourself and been surprised? The person depicted doesn’t
seem to look, or sound, like you at all. Yet when you
look at the other people on screen they all seem to be
fairly and accurately represented by the video. Why is
it that you come across so differently on tape?
It’s far more pertinent to ask why everyone watching the
film feels exactly the same way you do. |
So?
We don’t always perceive ourselves and our behaviours in the
same way as others do. Individuals can have blind spots about
their behaviour, and can portray different sets of behaviours
to different groups. Understanding those perceptions is key to
the greater self awareness which is needed as a catalyst for
real and lasting behavioural change.
Communication about behaviours needn’t be a one way process,
telling people how to change. In order to effect real change
people need feedback. Feedback from your manager is great, but
structured, focussed, rounded feedback from a variety of
sources is much better. That’s where 360°Insight™ comes in.
By building a set of behavioural indicators based on your
organisational context and initiatives 360°Insight™ clarifies
your behavioural expectations. From there we can engage with
your employees to understand and create a debate around
behaviour. 360°Insight™ also provides your organisation with
invaluable information about behavioural norms and trends
within your business.
Is it right for us?
360° assessment is a very powerful tool, unlocking the reality
or behaviour in your organisation. Implemented well it can
prove transformational in how people behave and work with each
other, and in providing a platform for enhanced personal and
organisational development. Implemented badly its power can be
damaging. That is why Predaptive developed 360°Insight™ which
goes beyond the simple mechanics of 360° review to ensure that
the process matches your organisational context and engages
employees to provide a safe and developmental environment.
360°Insight™ has successfully been employed to add lasting
value into projects such as:
Claudine McClean
If you would like to talk through whether 360°Insight™ is
right for your organisation please contact:
Lynn Joy
e: lynnj@predaptive.com
t: +44 (0) 1789 734333
f: +44 (0) 1789 734401
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