People are probably even more important. If you think about it; you can have World Class processes, information, and technology. But can you leverage them without people?
“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination”. – Jimmy Dean
When companies refer to people as their main asset, they aren’t mistaken. But do they really believe it? Do they really “walk the talk”? In most cases, people are left to the last, just expecting that they’ll adapt and embrace the change (in processes, information, or technology) only because we said so, and most of the time we said so by using email or any other kind of unidirectional communication. But how are we sure they got the message correctly?
The longest time it takes for people to adopt and embrace change, the highest the cost. Due to resistance; inefficiencies; cost of opportunity and in the worst-case scenario; employee turnover.
Change doesn’t happen by itself, neither because we declared it. People consciously or unconsciously need to have the desire for change, need to develop to be ready for change, and need to believe that change is good for them. Once you make sure that’s happening, you can guarantee Total Success for your change initiative.
Fortunately, there are some instruments available to help you find what really matters in relation to Change Management:
- Are you ready for a change?
- Likelihood of success for a change initiative
- Assessing people readiness for a change initiative
Make the diagnosis of your current situation or when starting a new project, and get a total adoption of the desired state.
