How to Convince Your Employees to Respond to Change

What is this “change agile” craze all about? What is the goal of change agile?

That’s easy.

It’s to simply enable change in your organization, not prevent it.

Change agile brings cohesion and unity to the concept of organizational change management. Companies should be willing to adopt and implement new controls to drive or improve organizational agility. Agile methods offer continuous and effective ways to handle changes. Think of “change agile” as a streamlining method to recognize and facilitate change in a non-intrusive manner. For example, demanding employees to use social media platforms to recruit. Introducing social media can be daunting, but valuable.

If you want to get employees on board and revamp your old-fashioned mindset, here are some places to start:

Enable disruptors, but support the co-creation of change. Take the time to design a sound process for change. Try starting with training leaders to be present and attentive coaches at all levels of the company. Allow your managers and executives to become experts, not merely supervisors. Give employees a degree of power in the decision-making process so they feel appreciated.

Back to our social media example—some employees are not comfortable with taking on social media and using it as a tool for recruitment, so be open to feedback and coach them through it. Try conducting a focus group or social media training sessions to provide employees an environment to share their concerns as well as gain company-wide support. Work in small groups to simplify the change.

Alignment: Facilitate change with consistent dialogue, coaching, and support tools for employees.

1. Do NOT be that boss that doesn’t put their people first.
2. Do NOT be that boss that doesn’t accept direct feedback.
3. Deliver a strong and focused mission to keep employees interested, but also establish “systems of engagement” that encourage collaborative and information-sharing work. Focus on the value that your employees can offer.

Articulate the reasoning behind the change. Try explaining to your employees that they are ambassadors of the company brand, and as recruiters, using social media platforms will draw the attention of new clients. And attracting new candidates can lead to recommendations and ultimately more commission… (dollar dollar bills, y’all). Help your team members understand the full picture of instituting change and how they can be a part of the bigger mission.

Honesty and Trust: Be brave and have difficult conversations with employees that do not support nor line up with organizational goals. In addition, create programs that foster goal setting and peer-to-peer interaction so employees grasp the organization’s values and ideals.

Coach your employees through the process of change. Peer-to-peer interaction is a key component of getting people on board. Creating a dynamic and honest dialogue will encourage the behaviors that you want.

Referring to our example of social media, you can start with teaching your employees a basic social media tool such as Buffer, which can update and post articles and content on behalf of your personal social media accounts. Being honest with them about expectations while also providing them with the tools they need to succeed will make people more receptive to change.

Transparency: Being agile brings about transparency and transparency sets standards for change. Create a framework to deliver information to employees that fosters strong performance and a job environment built upon adaptability AND knowledge.

Consider answering the following questions as it pertains to our social media example:

1. What are the expectations and reasons for updating employee social media presence to reflect the employer brand?
2. What are the goals of using social media platforms to attract attention as recruiters?
3. How frequently should employees meet to check in on their individual and collective progress?
4. How creative can employees be with the content and information they share to recruit candidates on platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram?

Change agile is all about improving your company brand and operation. Think big picture and look to invest in your company’s transformation while simultaneously empowering your employees.