Posts Tagged ‘Change Management’

Addiction to Change

Along with the rest of the country I too am caught in the grip of the election media frenzy. From morning till night we are presented with manifesto promises spiced up with reports of the latest timely scandal. It’s a lot to take in and in the chaos of the hype I remember little of the detail, if asked for the predominate theme of this election I would immediately reply ‘change’.

I know the opposition is there to oppose but this heady focus on the need to change has made me question, do we want to change for change’s sake?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not promoting the Conservative’s manifesto, In fact the jury is still out on where I will put my cross on election day, my interest is a simple curiosity into what I describe as an ‘addiction to change’.

What is Driving Change?

I believe in the power of change, I embrace it, promote it and help businesses achieve it but it is prudent to remember that not all change will equal success and not all change should get the green light.

Change is just another part of life we need it to sustain, improve, invent and evolve, but it isn’t always necessary to introduce revolutionary change, is this just a case of wanting to put our stamp on something?

From what I have seen the conservatives change-centric manifesto is not inspiring the nation, change for change’s sake doesn’t win friends and influence people.

Let me break away from politics and take you back to 1985 to remind you of the infamous Coca-Cola recipe change, the backlash of which prompted a speedy retreat to the original recipe now aptly named Coca-Cola Classic. When you make changes you need to think carefully about what you are really trying to achieve, its not a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, the pro’s need to out weight the con’s.

Choose Wisely

When faced with managing change I have learnt to focus my efforts wisely, my experience has taught me that it becomes increasingly difficult to gain employee, consumer or shareholder buy-in when you are promoting or promising too much change.

I’m not suggesting that we should limit the amount of change, just manage the promise and delivery of it. Trust and buy-in are self perpetuating and both will come as long as you deliver.

On the 6th May I will not be casting my vote on the promise of revolutionary change; I will weigh-up the pros and cons’s and try to work out who can deliver the overall benefit… choose wisely.

Posted by Yasmin in Change Management, Transformational Change on April 23rd, 2010 | 1 Comment

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It Pays to be a Monkey

Cheeky Monkey have been profiled in the business section of today’s Manchester Evening News. You can read all about what motivated Nina to create the Cheeky Monkey business and brand and follow a career in Change Management.

Posted by Yasmin in News on March 19th, 2010 | 1 Comment

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‘LEAN’ on the Consumer

Lean, that is for manufacturing isn’t it? Why should non manufacturing businesses consider this concept and what does it have to do with HR?

Lean thinking is not new. Lean manufacturing principles are the foundation of most production facilities around the world but this thinking is effective in any function and any industry.

Lean production methods were pioneered by Toyota in Japan and include the use of tools such as; the seven wastes, 5S, Kanban, TPM, Rapid Changeovers and 6 Sigma.

The key tool though is the value mapping process and the ability to identify waste and attack that waste systematically. It is this element of Lean thinking that is being applied in service organisations both in the public and private sector and is extending to functions outside of manufacturing.

Why?

Understanding consumer values, their decision making process and how they spend their disposable income is going to become the foundation for business strategy and management policy in 2010.

Add to that the fact that in a standardised world where things are increasingly similar the world over, people are the difference and employee engagement is going to make the difference.

Lean working is about understanding and meeting the needs of the consumers more effectively. For most organisations it will be about meeting those needs in a better, faster and right first time way – eliminating waste, reducing costs, enhancing value.

The theory is simple:

  • Define value from the perspective of the consumer
  • Map the flow of activities that create that value
  • Design the most efficient way of achieving it

In the next 6 stages the framework for delivering a Lean Programme are identified and the implication on people exposed.

Stage 1 – Vision

The starting point is to be able to visualise and identify value from the perspective of the consumer.

Do you really understand what activities really add value for your customers?

Will Lean help to deliver the organisations strategic business objectives?

Do the Leaders and Managers understand the cultural and organisational change gap?

Adoption of Lean thinking is a cultural and organisational change project and as such requires top level buy in, and understanding of how much commitment you are willing to make and the benefits that you want to see delivered.

Stage 2 – Communication, communication and communication.

Lean affects the organisational structure in very different ways.

In stage 1 we have taken the visionary leaders of the organisation and clarified the reason for delivering Lean. Once this is done and communicated the process switches to being a bottom up driven approach.

Why?

The best way to eliminate waste is to be close to where it is created. Of course this raises a number of issues:

  • Are the doers in the organisation capable of working in process teams rather than functional teams?
  • Are the Managers able to facilitate and support the process without influencing?
  • Are you putting employees in a position where they may “eliminate” their own role and reason for being?

The impact on the people in the organisation is significant and the message communicated at this stage is critical.

A big question at this point is; does your organisation know more about its customers than its employees?

Are you able to have an adult two way relationship between leaders and managers and managers and workers?

Engagement and involvement are critical in managing change in the work environment. Many of the barriers to the success of change projects are people related. This is compounded when implementing Lean, where the involvement and engagement of the workforce is essential.

Aligning the adoption of Lean with an Employee Engagement programme can be a winning combination. Communicating both together allows for positive reflection on a change that is not being done to the workforce but is being delivered by the workforce.

There is increasing evidence that individual’s skills are being under utilised at work, which is a significant source of disengagement for the individual concerned and it also signifies significant waste.

Carrying out a people and talent audit will provide a foundation stone for Lean and ensure that the cultural and organisational change is clearly understood, helping the journey to be sustainable.

Stage 3 – Deliver a current state value map

To move forward you must know where you are coming from.

Can you define your end to end value chain?

As previously mentioned this needs to be done by creating process teams. In some organisations these will be cross functional and in others cross functional and inter-company.

Many organisations will have gone through years of Value Adding, so it is natural at this point for there to be a level of cynicism about a new focus on the elimination of waste.

It can be helpful at this point to bring in some external co-ordination to limit the potential for smoothing of the existing process born by a fear of becoming victims of the process.

Stage 4 – Disruption!

The fun bit! An unreasonable challenge on what is done and why. The dependency is being far enough down the Employee Engagement Process that there is a real desire and passion to find the better, faster, right first time route to what the consumer wants.

How?

Follow the Google theory; “give the proper tools to a group of people who want to make a difference and they will”.

The purpose here is to invoke positive emotions from people taking personal responsibility, giving them freedom to make decisions and organise their work.

The changes in the social structure and impact of the economic downturn have left many people wanting more than a pay packet. More people are taking personal responsibility for themselves and others in their everyday lives and are less willing to abandon their desire for self determination when they enter work – engaging this side of the workforce is key to successful Lean implementation. There are consequences though…

Managers used to having responsibility and control over a clear function may struggle with the behavioural change associated with this type of transformation. Supporting them with coaching and mentoring will ensure that conflict is managed positively and will ultimately deliver a management group who can facilitate change and eliminate waste effectively.

Stage 5 – The Transformation Programme

The results of the disruption process will require packaging into manageable projects that will link together as part of the Lean Programme. The ideal situation is to have the Lean Programme sponsored at Board level, with the Board becoming a Steering Group for the overall timeline and delivery of benefits.

Each project will then have a Manager level sponsor and a Project Manager responsible for delivery of the Lean initiative through the process team.

It is very likely that as a result of disruption the value chain identified will cut across the traditional functional structure. This will result in the need for restructuring of functional responsibility focusing on major business process activity.

Stage 6 – Sustainability

It seems sometimes that the desire, excitement and commitment to business transformation only exists when the programme is in full flight. It is common now in many organisations for new transformation programmes to start up as one is finishing off and that energy is some how transferred to the new initiative with the belief that this programme has delivered…

BIG MISTAKE!

Creating sustainable change takes continued effort and improvement. Organisations who feel the job is done at the end of the programme have usually not aligned goals and strategic benefits correctly and more importantly are not measuring success.

Performance monitoring at several levels; results based, process based, team and individual is critical in not only quantifying the benefits of Lean working but ensuring that hot spots are identified and the philosophy of continuous improvement is maintained.

Lean is not a one hit wonder. It is a business process change that if done correctly will change the organisational design, focus, culture, behaviour and way of working for the organisation.

There are a number of HR specific considerations to ensure sustainability of Lean:

  • Performance related appraisal scheme
  • Commitment to challenging poor behaviour
  • Designing rewards that encourage the type of behaviour and action required to meet business aims

Values driven engagement:

  • Improved team working
  • Mutual support
  • Greater personal responsibility
  • Autonomy
  • More focus on collaboration and influencing

The 21st Century Workplace is going to need to focus on; flexibility, change and continuous improvement. There will be more emphasis on attitudes, behaviours and outcomes. This will be measurable and correlated with performance. Lean provides an umbrella to do all of that and generate some tangible financial benefits by focusing on what your consumer wants to see and finding the simplest way of delivering it.

Lean, just for manufacturing? Not in our experience.

North West Business Insider – Power of 10

Nina gives her opinon on retailers and discount brands as part of this months ‘The Power of Ten’ in the latest issue of NW Business Insider, which is out today.

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Posted by Yasmin in Economy on January 15th, 2010 | No Comments

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When Did Projects Become Business As Usual?

I have been practicing change management and delivering projects for the last 17 years. All those years ago I knew this was my destiny because Project Management meant you did things a different way. I had never been able to settle in a “functional role” and god knows I tried them all.

Projects were (and in my book still are) a vehicle for change. An opportunity to step outside of business as usual, break down barriers and find the fastest most effective way of delivering the desired change. Then carefully, integrate that back into the business as a new way of working, nurturing it like a sapling that needs to take root.

The philosophy was a real hit. Now most companies have some kind of Project Management function and there are so many Project Managers.

BUT HAVEN’T WE MISSED THE POINT HERE?

They have become part of the establishment, surely the antidote to what they are there to do?

Truly successful projects are still in the minority and change on the whole is still managed badly.

WHY DO COMPANIES WANT (OR PUT UP WITH) THIS DILUTION?

Have we got so used to projects not quite making the deadline or failing to keep to budget that we have lowered our expectations?

OR ARE LEADERS CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT THEY ARE COMFORTABLE WITH?

When I was an employed Project Manager I was a total pain in the arse for all my bosses because I challenged everything. Not to be obstructive but because I always believed there was a better way, I believed it was my job to lead change. This did not always sit well with my bosses who, some saw the benefit and promoted the success, others distanced themselves waiting for me to hang myself.

CHANGE CREATES HEAT AND LIGHT

If you have an internal change team then the management team need to be enlightened, the mavericks, the ones who don’t care who is going to be upset, they see a vision and know they can get there.

The best creations, most innovative ideas, advances in ways of working and process need heat and light. Make a difference, create a lightening bolt today!

Motivating a Team Rocked by Redundancy

Nina had the pleasure of writing the GM Chamber of Commerce Friday guest blog.

She said:

“There’s no doubt the recession is forcing companies to think differently. The playing field has changed and the entrepreneurs amongst us are considering new markets, new processes, new ways of working and new terms. Everything is up for grabs again. Positive or negative, it’s an adrenalin rush and people are thinking about basic business practice again.”

Read the rest of what Nina had to say on the GM Chamber Blog .

Posted by Yasmin in News on November 20th, 2009 | No Comments

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Change is Coming

President Obama, Gordon brown, David Cameron, they have all told us that ‘change is coming’.

It’s been a year since the collapse of Lehman Brothers rocked the world’s financial system. A global recession followed, brought about by poor risk management, power, greed and an unprecedented lack of accountability. The required balance between risk and reward somehow went under the radar.

I am a customer, you are a customer, your favourite shops and local businesses are customers, and together we are paying the price for this imbalance between power and accountability. As we tread the murky waters of this recession trying to keep our heads above the water, ‘change is coming’ feels like a cheap tag line, of course it is, you have no choice.

What I want to know is…

What Will Change?

On Saturday finance ministers from around the world met in Scotland for the G20 meeting, the focus, economic growth.

Speaking of the financial sector, Gordon Brown said:

“It cannot be acceptable that the benefits of success in this sector are reaped by the few but the costs of its failure are borne by all of us”.

He went on to call for a new ‘social contract’ with the world’s banks, a route to preventing future bailouts and making them more responsible to society. It sounded sensible to me, a way to move forward when they pull the plug on the money printing press, but by all accounts it was met with a lukewarm response. Despite our vulnerability many governments are looking for a way to bail out of the bail out, but as national debt is rising by £6,000 per second, for now they have pledged to continue the emergency support.

In fairness, there has been change. Last week the Bank of England’s wish to break up some of the world’s biggest financial firms was granted as the government announced their plans to break up Northern Rock, RBS and Lloyds in an effort to increase competition and limit our risk from failure. If the plan is to eliminate monopolies and limit risk, why just these banks? Surely HSBC has the same problems, as do many other banks around the globe whose governments are reluctant to follow suit.

What Needs to Change?

As everyday consumers you and I are a small link in the financial chain, previously unaware of the impact that that financial sector could have on our daily lives. We were detached from the hustle and bustle of the London stock exchange and Wall Street, unaware that our homes, pensions, savings and investments were being used as a stake in a game of roulette.

We have spent a year reading about what went wrong, and thankfully we are starting to read about what needs to change. From everything that I have read there are four main areas that need focus:

  • An clear understanding of the role of the financial sector in society and our economy
  • The failures of previous regulation
  • The management of risk

And, most importantly…

  • A global commitment to work together

“The Government’s commitment to regulatory reform is real and no one should be in doubt that change is coming. But nor should anyone in the sector think that government alone will be able to drive the change needed – the time for owners, governors, and managers of firms to show leadership has well and truly arrived.” – Paul Myners, Financial Services Secretary

Change is Inevitable

Yesterday we witnessed a huge vote of ‘no confidence’ in the Royal Mail’s ability to manage change, 67% of postal workers turned out to deliver a 76% ‘yes’ vote to support further strike action. A clear sign that Royal Mail management are failing, and a clearer sign that Royal Mail are failing.

I can’t help but think that the constant threat of strike action, especially as they approach the busy Christmas period can only be compared to a ritual of self-harm.

Change is Necessary

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has agreed that ‘change is necessary’ – So what’s the problem?

In short they would like…

royal-mail-bike

  • Job security
  • No redundancies
  • Higher pay
  • Shorter working week
  • More quality time
  • More say in job roles

I wonder, during this time of economic recovery, how many other businesses are maintaining the status quo?

Unfortunately the reality is there will be a price to pay for modernisation whether that is job cuts due to automation, higher prices to customers or privatisation.

Royal Mail has a lot to live up to, they are a ‘British institution’, and both employee and customer will have a perception of what this means. Has our relationship with Royal Mail forced them to hold back on radical modernisation? Or did it make them complacent?

Is it too Late?

The price of a stamp is a bargain, for 39p you can send a standard letter 1st class to anywhere in the UK, it’s incredible that they have been able to offer this service for so long. Personally I would like it to continue and would be happy to take a price rise on the chin if I knew that my letter would arrive when I needed it to. Solutions are rarely this simple, the postman is still delivering my mail but the envelopes are marked ‘UK Mail’, they offer the same service for just 32p.

It seems all are agreed on the fact that change is inevitable, for Royal Mail and their competitors this is ‘consumer led’ and as a result ultimately needs to lead to increasing customer satisfaction. For Royal Mail it’s a game of catch-up, will they do or die?

“He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.” – Harold Wilson

Posted by Yasmin in Transformational Change on October 9th, 2009 | 1 Comment

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