Going through changes can be an intimidating time for anyone – whether it’s an individual or an organization experiencing a period of change together, it’s typically an intimidating process. This is why prioritizing change management is crucial for businesses who are undergoing a significant change within their organization, such as implementing an MSP or RPO solution.Change management is the process of planning, implementing, and monitoring changes in an organization, and companies often work with a talent partner who has expertise in change management to navigate this process.
Adapting to new things is not an easy feat, so having a formal change management process in place should eliminate employees’ hesitation and anxiousness toward organizational changes. It will foster effective communication that leads to increased visibility and improved morale among your workforce.
In short, a proper change management process will determine whether the changes will be successfully adopted by your organization, and working with a talent partner who has expertise in this area will help the new program adoption go as smooth as possible.
Framework for a Successful Change Management Process
If your organization is beginning the process of adopting a new talent solution and chooses to work with a change management partner, that partner will build a framework to efficiently move your teams through the transformation. Every company’s change management process will look slightly different depending on their unique needs.
However, here is an overarching framework of how the process is typically broken down:
1. Customer Analysis Phase
Once your organization’s sales team closes a deal with a new customer, the change management team needs to step in to uncover who the customer is and what they were just sold. They need to research their industry, their size, the services they offer, who their key stakeholders are, the program solution your company will be providing them, etc. This information will provide a solid initial foundation, but the change management team will want to take a deeper dive.
They will proceed to distribute a ‘discovery questionnaire’ to your organization to get the big picture of what needs to be done and what your expectations are for the new program adoption. This questionnaire provides each person on your team the opportunity to have their voice heard so the change management team will have multiple perspectives to give them a deeper understanding of the client they are catering to.
One of the most essential components of the customer analysis phase is determining who the key stakeholders are within the client’s organization and how each of them will be impacted by the change. Each person’s role will relate to the change in a unique way. To uncover how each person is affected, your talent partner will perform a ‘change impact assessment’. This in-depth assessment will unveil the information required to create a tailored change management plan that takes each stakeholder’s needs into account.
2. Determine an Action Plan
Once your change management team has a good understanding of your needs, they will develop a customized action plan to guide your organization through the upcoming transition. Although the change management team will take the lead on creating this plan, feedback from your organization’s leaders is vital throughout the process to ensure it’s moving in the right direction.
The change management team will likely focus much of their energy on the communication aspect of this process. Since every organization is different, each one will have unique needs for who needs to be informed throughout each phase of the change implementation, how frequently each person needs to be informed, and the depth of information each individual needs to be given.
Creating this plan will entail:
- tailoring the communications to your audience parameters to establish a foundation,
- drafting informative emails to different groups,
- deciding if in-person or virtual meetings are needed,
- determining a timeline to distribute various communications, and more.
Remember that this change management plan will be configured to your organization’s specific needs because there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, so your talent partner will seek approval of the plan from your decision-making team. Be transparent and make sure this plan will work for your team or help your change management leaders pivot in the right direction if the plan does not meet your standards.
3. Implement and Monitor the Plan
Now it’s time to implement the agreed upon plan. This includes getting on calls, sending the drafted emails at each phase to whom it may concern within your organization, creating video intros, conducting lunch and learns, and anything else that will help your teams get on board with the changes occurring. A good change management team is there to speed up the implementation process for you and ensure the adoption of your new talent solution is as seamless as possible.
Consistent and transparent communication between both parties is still crucial at this stage. The change management team needs to be openly communicating any news to your organization, and in return you need to be giving feedback in real-time regarding the flow of the implementation process. If things are going smoothly, tell your change management team to keep up the good work – and if things are going poorly, tell your change management team that the plan needs to be reworked so they can pivot where necessary. Keep in mind that communication is the key to a successful change management process.
Without a change management plan in place, companies would undoubtedly have a more difficult time adjusting to the new program adoption. There are many benefits of having a team of experts guide you through this process. Since every organization’s needs are unique, one change management framework does not exist that every company can use.
So, if your organization will be undergoing some changes in the future, be sure to work with a talent partner, like DZConneX, to build a customizable change management plan to ensure the adoption will be a breeze.
