In my previous column, I suggested that an important part of the change process was to create a sense of urgency throughout the organization. At this point in the change process many organizations jump right into the action phase. However, there is a very important step to take prior to taking action.

The step to which I am referring is the communication of the vision of the final state of the organization - what things should look like at the end of the change process. The vision provides a roadmap and a framework for understanding all of the necessary actions to be taken. It helps the employees to clearly understand where the organization is headed and calms fears in a period of instability.

It’s no good to just tell everyone about the vision or to put it on posters and hang them on the walls of the office or plant. Instead to make it a part of the employee’s reality you have to repeat it at every opportunity, using symbols, slogans, and multi-media messages. In the early 80’s, London Life very successfully used the slogan, “Leadership in the 80’s” to convey the vision of a company at the forefront of its industry.

The message, as any communicator will tell you, must be consistent in all corporate communications. Even more importantly, the actions of the senior leadership team must be aligned with the vision. It would be a disaster if the vision was “We will be the low-cost producer in our industry” and the leadership team was seen traveling first class to Hawaii to discuss how to realize the vision. Their credibility would be in tatters.

There are so many channels to communicate with employees, customers, shareholders and the public that it is only a matter of choosing the ones that are effective for your purposes. Many companies use an Intranet to communicate with employees. Other companies use newsletters, town-hall meetings, education, training and even one-on-one lobbying to get the message across that the organization is changing.

Employees need to see “the big picture”, including what will be different in the future and what will remain the same. Employees also need specific information about how they can connect their work to achieving the vision and the answer to the WIIFM question-What’s In It For Me?

Creating Organizational Alignment

Once the new vision and strategy has been thoroughly communicated, it is time to align the formal organization with it. The formal organization includes all the systems, structures and processes necessary to effectively manage the organization.

Key systems that need alignment include recruitment - the process for hiring new employees and retention of needed skills; training systems that should stress the new competencies that support the vision and strategy - giving the employees the skills and tools they need to succeed; performance and reward systems that focus on the new, desired behaviours (often legacy appraisal and reward systems are inappropriate or ineffective in achieving the new vision and strategy).

Aligning Structures

Organizational structure is the set of formal arrangements that define the roles, responsibilities and relationships that synchronize everyone’s work efforts. New visions and new strategies demand new organizational arrangements. For example, if you want to become a team-based organization you have to do more than just announce it, you have to re-structure into teams and then reward and recognize team-oriented behaviours.

Along with aligning the structure of the organization you have to fill key positions with the right people, people with strong, ‘get it done’ attitudes and people who are supportive of the change.

Finally, it is important to align all the organizational processes, the sets of sequenced activities that produce a given output. These processes define how products become produced, how services get delivered and how information is distributed and used. You can claim to be a ‘lean’ manufacturer but the job isn’t finished until all the key processes are aligned with that concept.

Beware of the technology trap. Many enterprise-wide software projects have failed because the organization assumed that the new technology would solve all the problems on its own. New technology should support the change initiatives but it cannot solve the problems. Employees need to be trained and familiarized with the new technology systems in order for them to be effective.

As the change takes hold, plan for quick wins, celebrating the attainment of realistic short-term objectives that move the organization forward. Only after momentum has been achieved do you set tougher goals.

Change is a process. Change is not as difficult as it might seem. Using a model of change appropriate to your organization will help you focus energy and effort on the right things, thus reducing time wasted on the wrong things.

David Bratton is a management consultant and president of Bratton Consulting Inc. in London. He also represents Drake Beam Morin (DBM), one of Canada’s largest career counselling and outplacement firms. He can be contacted at (519) 679-2774 or by email: dbratton@brattonconsulting.com. His column appears every other week.