Welcome to the Change Management Tutorial Series

Home   |   Bookstore   |    Tutorials   |   Benchmarking

Email this page to a friend

From the new book Change Management: the people side of change

This new series discusses the steps you can take to build change management competency in your organization. This first module in the series defines competency at managing change. Module 2 presents Prosci's Change Management Maturity Model with complete definitions. Module 3 presents an action plan for building this competency in your organization.

Email this page to a friend

Module 1 - Defining change management competency

Introduction

An organization that faces constant demands to change and uses effective change management over and over with each new initiative may experience a fundamental shift in its operations. Sponsors begin to repeat activities that made the last change successful. Managers develop skills to support employees through the change. Employees see part of their job as navigating change. Each level in the organization will have internalized its role in change and developed the skills and knowledge necessary to react to constant change. The organization has become ready and able to embrace change; it has developed change management competency.

Change management competency has direct bottom line results. Recent research shows that organizations are more successful when they effectively manage change. A report by McKinsey found that skills in 12 key change management areas directly correlate to the return realized on projects. Analysis of Prosci data with 327 project teams showed that teams that used excellent change management were more likely to meet their objectives and to finish on time. In today's business environment, building change management competency is becoming a strategic goal for leading organizations. The graphs below demonstrate the direct financial benefits of effective change management.

Correlation of change management and meeting objectives

Correlation of change management and meeting schedule

What is change management competency?

Building change management competency in an organization is not like installing a new computer system or implementing a new policy. Change management competency requires a new attitude and approach. Individuals in a change-competent organization define their job in relation to change. They value the ability to change as one of their primary responsibilities. They understand that change will occur, expect it and effortlessly perform during and after the change.

Change management competency is the presence of a business culture that expects change and reacts with the understanding, perspectives, tools and techniques to make change seamless and effortless. It is making change a part of “business as usual.”

How is it different than change management?

Change management competency is similar to change management, but there are several key distinctions.

First, change management is the use of specific activities (like communication, coaching, sponsorship and training) to manage the people-side of change in order to realize successful outcomes of a business change. Change management competency is not a specific activity; it is an organization’s ability to react to and manage change over and over again. Change management competency is an organization-wide capability to apply change management practices successfully and routinely.

Second, while change management can be taught and learned, change management competency requires a fundamental shift in culture and values. It must become part of day-to-day operations and cannot be simply demonstrated in training or instructional material.

Third, change management competency must penetrate every facet and level of the organization. Change management competency must be evident in all levels - especially sponsors, managers and front-line employees. Too often, these parts of the organization lack the fundamental understanding and skills needed to be advocates for change. While project teams or centers of excellence can become skilled in change management, the entire organization must undergo a shift in the way it approaches business as usual to build change competency.

Evidence of a change-competent organization

Change-competent organizations, as viewed from each role in the organization, have the following attributes:

Executives – “constantly search for ways to improve profitability and growth by reacting to marketplace changes and opportunities, and ensure that business changes are implemented and realized to their full potential through effective leadership and change sponsorship. This includes active and visible participation in change projects throughout the life of the project.”

The project team – “can support sponsors, managers and front-line employees through the change process with tools, processes and techniques to manage change”

Managers – “can coach employees through the change process; provide direction and steering for professional development and encourage successful performance during the transition and in the new environment”

Front-line employees – “can perform successfully in the current environment, during the transition and in the future state; have the tools and processes to effectively manage their personal transition through change.”

To build change competency, you must equip all levels of your organization with the understanding, perspectives, tools and techniques to make change seamless and effortless.

Facilitating a change-competent culture

You can use the ADKAR model to assess where your organization is today relative to change competency and to develop an action plan to move in that direction. Consider and evaluate the following statements as they relate to your organization.

Awareness – the organization understands the importance of responding quickly and efficiently to internal and external pressures to change; the organization understands what change competency is and the associated business risk of not developing change competency; all groups understand the business reasons and drivers for making this change in culture, values and skills for managing change.

Desire – the organization recognizes the impact on its livelihood and operations if change competency is not developed, and is motivated to create organizational change competency; all groups acknowledge that the ability to change is critical if the organization is to survive, and they are ready and willing to begin the journey towards a change competent organization.

Knowledge – the organization has the base knowledge of what a change-able organization looks like and what skills and values are required; all facets of the organization have a basic understanding of change management theories and practices, and can apply change management processes to business projects; each group understands its role in a change competent organization.

Ability – the organization possesses and effectively utilizes the tools and processes to manage change; leaders, change practitioners and front-line employees have practice and coaching in being successful change agents and can routinely apply their knowledge and skills to realize change.

Reinforcement – the organization encourages and rewards successful change through its culture, values and initiatives; support of change competency is reinforced and resistance to change is identified and managed; change is part of “business as usual.”

The role of leadership

Leaders play several critical roles in building change competency. First, they give the directive, authority and resources to the goal of building this new skill. The change of 'building change competency' requires the same level of active and visible sponsorship that any project requires.

Senior leaders also play a key role in communicating to the organization about the ability to change. Employees, managers and project teams look up in the organization for messages relating to the business reasons for change. Why is this happening now? What are the strategic implications? How does this shape the vision of the organization in the future?

Finally, executives must be active participants in managing resistance throughout the organization. This role requires interaction with peers (other leaders) and the individuals under the executive in the organization.

The importance of front-line employees

The impacted employees are often the neglected component of change management efforts. Training and resources are readily available for executives, change teams and even managers and supervisors. Front-line employees are often left behind.

Ironically, managing front-line employee resistance was identified as the number one obstacle for change management teams in a recent study with more than 288 companies. A separate study with business improvement teams showed that employee resistance was the top inhibitor of project success. The lesson to be learned is: do not underestimate the importance of your front-line employees in managing change. To truly build change competency into an organization, the front-line employees must understand how they can succeed and perform in a constantly changing business world.

Supervisors and managers play a key role in building change competency in front-line employees. Change competent supervisors actively coach their direct reports and help the organization absorb new changes.

Building change competency takes time

Change is a process and moving to a change-competent organization will take time. It is important to realize that you will need to apply change management techniques to this change as well. You will need to recognize where you are today, where you want to be in the future, and what it will take to make that transition. Change management is a required capability for developing change competency.

Coming next - In the next module, we will present a Change Management Maturity Model to help understand where you are today and how to build change competency in your organization

Related Resources:

Change Management Toolkit: a comprehensive change management process, including templates,  worksheets, assessments, checklists and guidelines - a must have for change management team members and consultants.

Best Practices in Change Management: 426 companies share experiences in managing change and lesson on how to build great executive sponsorship. Includes success factors, methodology, role of top management, communications, team structure and more. The report makes it easy to learn change management best practices and discover the mistakes to avoid when creating executive sponsorship.

Change Management: the people side of change: a solid foundation in change management perspectives, theories, activities and practices - available August 2003 - email a Prosci analyst for more information

*** Register to receive free news announcements and tutorial releases ***