Ramp up employee involvement

“The more you engage employees in the change process, the greater their desire will be to support and participate in the change.” – Jeffrey M. Hiatt,  ADKAR: a model for change in business, government and our community

If you’ve been in the workplace for any length of time, you will probably agree with me that nothing builds desire for change or ownership faster than direct participation in a change effort. In fact, in my career, I’ve seen employees  become passionate about a change effort and staunchly committed to its successful implementation as a result of their participation in it. What leader doesn’t want to harness that kind of positive energy for a change effort? But how can leaders use this knowledge to effectively engage employees in the change process?

Here are a few tips gleaned from Hiatt’s book: ADKAR

Communicate Outcomes.  Think about how much control can you give to employees involved in the change. If you can focus primarily on the OUTCOMES (what needs to change) and allow employees to determine how the change is implemented, that can create enormous buy-in.

Engage Your Influencers, Movers & Shakers. Think about which individuals in your organization seem to influence others or tend to get things done easily. Can you involve these key individuals in the change effort? Your change effort will benefit from these individuals and their natural talent for influencing others.

Develop Change Roles. Think about the varied roles can employees play in your change effort. Who should serve on the change management team? Who should design implementation strategies? Who could serve as the spokesperson for their area? Who could participate in a pilot effort? Who could provide feedback for improvement for early pilot efforts? Creating multiple ways for ramping up employee involvement can strengthen the success and sustainability of your change effort.

These are just a few ideas to think about when involving employees in your change effort.

What strategies have you used that you would recommend to other leaders?

Anita Rios