Organisational Change; Resilience Impact Series

Is your company going through organisational change? Change of people, change of structure, an evolution of path?

We meet with Global leaders from Ericsson, UK Local Govt and Johnson Matthey to discuss their experiences of Resilience and Organisational change.

Organisational Change – Our series of Impact webinar events covered the three enablers of Resilience; wellbeing, change and culture. In this blog article, we will share with you the critical takeaways from the organisational change session and video links to watch again. 

We hosted global industry leaders to share their thoughts on wellbeing, and culture. In addition, we held an open-space event to allow you to bring your issues around the organisational culture to our senior expert Resilience Coaching Practitioners. 
To watch the full session in your own time, the video is below: Resilience Impact Series; Change Video

Scholars and academics have discussed organisational change in Business Schools for many years.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines organisational change as “a process in which a large company or organisation changes its working methods or aims, for example, in order to develop and deal with new situations or markets”.

Organisational Change Discussion

Anne Lamont – UK Local Govt, discussed how she feels resilience is the key to how her organisation has navigated change. She noted that organisations are mainly in the ‘coping’ part of our Resilience Dynamic model, facing cutbacks, staff shortages and financial climate challenges.

She described this as the perfect storm.

Lamont discussed the challenge in navigating change when your people are forced to do this, yet they are not willing to come along the journey.

Lamont felt that the concept of ‘Psychological Safety’ was a key factor in a successful change management practice.

When everything is changing around your people [the current fuel crisis & cost of living crisis], the work environment can provide a safe place for your employees.

They can revert to doing things in the same ‘comfortable ways’ rather than stepping out of their comfort zones.

Priyanka Anand from Ericsson discussed change and explored that change is always easy or hard, depending on the perspective individuals draw on.

What are the messaging people take from the larger organisation? for Ericsson, communication was the key.

Ericsson is a telecoms company which is over 140 years old – and gets disrupted by evolving technology every 2-3 years, and therefore they are commissioned to the task of being adaptive to change.

An interesting paradox – embracing organisational change technologically but struggling to embrace change culturally.

“The only way companies can navigate change successfully is by having a clear narrative communicated to people” Priyanka Anand “…Change always comes to the company who believes in the higher purpose, who communicates, and define ‘what’s in it for me for the employees and have people who trust in it”. Said Anand.

The panel collectively discussed how to build trust within organisations. This is a key to creating Psychological Safety in the workplace.

The concept of rewarding collective, collaborative success Vs Individual success resonated with all of our speakers.

Ericsson and Johnson Matthey have begun to work this into their processes, and they both work with a ‘speak-up’ environment. This concept supports employees whether they are supporting a company’s motion or against it; no problem.

Elizabeth Barnes – Johnson Matthey, commented on the important connection between creating trust at all levels of the workforce – the top, middle and bottom.

This comes from leadership, and Johnson Matthey has five generations in the workforce, making this particularly tricky.

Johnson Matthey has a drive to ‘keep things simple’ this can be disengaging over time. A way they have navigated this is to celebrate the benefits; i.e. making life easier for you… this is how it is going to change your life… etc. Supporting their people on the journey.

Change – Key Takeaways:

• Creating spaces of power – co-production and buying of the change process from the start. Co-production rather than consultation.
• Communicate change at all levels and define the message so it resonates with all, and demonstrate to the individual ‘what’s in it for me’.
• Three Pillars of Change: Communication, Mindset and Culture –  1. How do we manage the good times as well as the challenging times – we need a clear communication narrative.  2. Invest in a change mindset a growth mindset. 3. The culture, invest in the culture.
• Build trust with your employees; empathy towards employees & leaders, reward the collective, collaborative success (Vs Individual success)
• Speedy execution and quick decision-making of the change process  – no disruptions or distractions. Power – levelling up
• Power between the individual and the organisation – reciprocity.
• Support people to leave well – positive feelings on Linkedin and positive culture

Is your Organisation experiencing change?

Change is something all organisations face at some point. Right now, change is likely for most, and organisations need to be prepared for this.

Learning the skills and enablers of resilience can help you, and your teams navigate change and pitfalls.

We have created our Dashboard Solo tool, which is a solution to allow you to evaluate your personal resilience using the Resilience Dynamic® Questionnaire.

The Resilience Dynamic® Questionnaire gives insight into your dynamic personal resilience range, plus your Secure/Neutral/Watch areas that highlight your opportunities for change.

If you are interested in exploring and shifting this, get in touch, our expert resilience coaches would be delighted to help you attain resilient leadership.

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