Change management inspiration is critical for the success of any change initiative.
Inspiration is like a guiding beacon for the success of any program.
By inspiring them in the right way, you can help them:
- Become more successful as workers and individuals
- Enact your change program more effectively
- Embrace change proactively
- Be more productive
These are just a few of the benefits that you’ll get by inspiring your fellow co-workers.
Of course, there are also perks for you and other members of the change team.
Inspired employees will:
- Feel less resistant to change initiatives
- Help reduce friction cause by feelings of alienation
- Cut timelines, costs, and consequent workloads
To name a few examples.
In short, you can expect inspired employees to work harder and proactively push the change program forward.
At the end of the day, this will increase your chances of success and remove barriers to change.
So how do you inspire change in the workplace?
Below are a few tips:
Change Management Inspiration 101
Inspiring change is an important part of any communications strategy.
It should not just be an afterthought – it should be a building block of your change plan.
Here are a few tips for inspiring change:
Create a Vision with People at the Center
A vision for change should include many things:
- A picture of the organization in the future
- What the workplace will look like
- How the culture will be different
But at the center of it all, you should put the people.
This orientation will help them workers themselves in context of the change program.
If the organization becomes the centerpiece, though, employees will see themselves as side pieces. Feelings of besiegement and alienation could be the result.
Write a Change Story that Benefits the Employee
Another way to put the focus on employees is by writing a change story that benefits them.
Don’t just write a story about what the organization will look like after the program is complete.
Write a story that shows:
- How employees will personally benefit
- How the program will improve the workplace
- How teams and the work culture will improve
These results play to the self-interest of employees … which is exactly why the story will inspire employees to work harder.
When they know what reward they will get down the road, they will be more likely to support a change initiative.
Make Change Fun
Change doesn’t have to be boring.
In fact, it shouldn’t be.
The more enjoyable change is, the more likely workers will be to engage.
Rather than conducting dry, boring seminars, spice things up with:
- Change management exercises
- Games
- Team building exercises
- Events and social activities
These types of activities are especially helpful when change involves restructuring.
Teach New Skills
As mentioned, every worker puts their own interests first.
So one way to inspire employees to support change is through upskilling, one of the biggest trends in change management.
Research has shown that today’s employees are less engaged than ever. Gallup reports that 85% of employees globally are not engaged or actively disengaged at work.
While Gallup blames mismanagement, Udemy blames boredom.
In 2016, Udemy surveyed 1000 full-time workers, finding that boredom was a key factor for engagement rates.
Around 80% of respondents agreed that learning opportunities skills would “make me more interested in and engaged in my job.”
The takeaway?
Organizational change often involves new business processes, digital software adoption, and procedures.
These are opportunities, which can be seized upon to teach employees new skills.
In turn, they will be much more inspired to support your change program.
Reward Productivity
Rewards are another key to success.
After all, not every change program can offer immediate benefits to an employee.
Offering rewards for short-term wins – and long-term wins – is a way to show progress.
More importantly, it helps inspire workers.
Rewards can take many forms, such as:
- Bonuses
- Workplace social events
- Recognition
- Gifts or gift cards
- Casual Fridays
Tailor each reward to the culture of the workplace, and expect to see more inspired employees.
A Better Work Environment
A better work environment is more inspiring.
In turn, this will increase employee productivity, engagement, and happiness.
There are many ways to improve a work environment, such as:
- Making physical improvements to the workspace
- Changing work routines to benefit employees, such as flex time or remote working opportunities
- Improving work processes and workflows
Every change program is different, so it may not be possible to perform changes that seem irrelevant.
However, every change program involves some sort of change.
If possible, find ways to include improvements such as those mentioned above.
The result will be more inspired, productive employees.
Conclusion
These are a few excellent ways to inspire employees during your change management project.
Some change managers may see these measures as “icing on the cake.”
However, they can greatly reduce employee resistance and grease the wheels of change.
Test out a few of these methods in your change project, then pick the ones that get the best results.
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WalkMe Team
WalkMe spearheaded the Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) for associations to use the maximum capacity of their advanced resources. Utilizing man-made consciousness, AI, and context-oriented direction, WalkMe adds a powerful UI layer to raise the computerized proficiency, everything being equal.