Retaining trust - avoiding the Valley of Despair
Leading change without losing organisational trust
Transformation creates uncertainty.
People may be asked to change their roles, learn new systems, adopt different processes, move locations or work in a completely different way.
Sometimes the organisation also needs to reduce costs or restructure.
None of this is easy.
Yet some of the most successful transformations I've experienced have achieved significant change without destroying trust.
How?
Be clear about why the change is necessary
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate! People don't necessarily resist change. They resist change they don't understand.
If the organisation needs to transform because of growth, competitive pressure, new technology, an acquisition or financial performance, explain the reality.
People can handle difficult messages. Tell them the truth. They will process what is means for them, what it means for their colleagues at work and then what it means for the company.
What damages trust is discovering later that the reason they were given wasn't the whole story.
Don't promise what you are unable to deliver
One of the quickest ways to lose credibility is to make commitments that cannot be delivered.
It's better to say:
"This is what we know today. This is what we don't know yet. This is when we'll know more."
That creates credibility.
It also creates permission to change the plan when circumstances change.
Give people something to believe in
Transformation shouldn't simply be about what the organisation is taking away. Explain what you're building. And why.
A better customer experience.
A simpler organisation.
Types of future roles
Better technology.
Opportunities for growth.
People need to understand where the organisation is going, not just what is changing.
Involve the people who do the work
Some of the best ideas I've seen during transformation have come from employees closest to the process. The answers to 80% of the challenges are known the employees. But they need a mechanism to allow them to bring the solutions.
They understand the workarounds.
They know where the bottlenecks are.
They know what will and won't work in practice.
Engagement isn't asking people to approve a predetermined solution.
It's giving them a genuine opportunity to improve it.
And they know the exceptions. The things that will surprise even the brightest talent. For example what happens on the 29th of February, what happens when there is a bank holiday for half a day or when there is no access to a particular application from overseas! All of these can cause significant pain with respect to month end deadlines, sales quarters or accounting periods!
Measure and communicate progress
This connects directly to our previous post on transformation KPIs.
Measure and communicate the baseline.
Define the critical few measures and process inputs.
Then show people how the business is improving. And avoid “the valley of despair”!
Progress builds confidence whereas silence creates speculation.
And when difficult decisions are unavoidable...
Handle them with fairness, transparency and respect.
A successful transformation isn't one where everyone agrees with every decision.
It's one where people understand why the decisions were made, how they were made and that they were treated fairly throughout the process.
Ultimately, transformation is about people.
Technology can enable change.
Processes can support it.
But people have to make it happen.
The real test of leadership isn't whether you can implement change. Any business can hire large transformation teams, overstaff the positions to overcome learning curves and allocate extended periods to complete a project. The acid test of success is if the program objectives are delivered but the organisation still trusts its leadership when the transformation is complete. You then have a fully engaged team who are committed to making the business a success.