Talent Management for Digital Transformation Part III: Addressing Resistance to Change
People don’t like change. It’s basically in our DNA to be resistant to it. So it should come as no surprise that organizations taking on digital transformation often encounter formidable challenges around managing resistance to change, from employee apprehension around new processes, to skepticism regarding new goals and strategies. To successfully navigate resistance to change in an organization, leaders need to bridge the gap between unease and enthusiasm, ensuring that their people become the driving force behind digital transformation initiatives. But how?
In the final installment of this series on talent management for digital transformation, we’ll explore the root cause of change resistance, why organizations must address it, and three key elements of successful change-agility frameworks.
Where Does Resistance to Change in an Organization Come From?
Humans are hardwired to be resistant to change. It’s coded in our biology. In fact, the amygdala – the part of our brain that regulates our response to change – perceives change as a threat and initiates our fight or flight response in the face of the unknown.
Back in our cave-dwelling days, this response was probably useful when our ancestors needed to flee sabretooth tigers, or find enough food to survive. However – leaving the Stone Age in the past – the response to protect ourselves from change today is moreso rooted in:
An aversion to being vulnerable
Feeling threatened that our jobs – and the way we do those jobs – are on the line
Fear that the status quo is at risk
In other words, people tend to take change personally, especially at work where we spend a significant amount of time investing our energy into careers, relationships, and our livelihoods.
So, what a shock that one of the biggest obstacles in any digital or operating model transformation is that change is hard for employees and leaders alike.
Resistance to Change Also Happens at the Leadership Level
Most leaders embarking on this process are excited by the promises of digital and operating model transformation. They want the results, so they’re all in. But, oftentimes that energy begins to fade when they realize that the change involved isn’t just something that happens “over there” on someone else’s team, in someone else’s behaviors. Once they begin to understand that change begins at home, that’s usually when the walls go up.
At its core, change resistance is about coming to terms with the fact that what got you here isn’t going to get you to where you’re going next
It reminds me of the original Father of the Bride movie where Martin Short’s character, the wedding planner, walks into the venue – a stunning property that looks like a page from a magazine – and says, “Beautiful! Fabulous! We’ll change everything!”
In this case, both things can be true: leaders have gotten to where they are because of how they’ve worked, and they’ll also need to learn how to show up differently in order to bring their organizations forward to the next level of success in a digitally-transformed world.
Manage Resistance to Change with a Change-Agility Mindset
To win at transformation, leaders need to design a change-management approach that is specific to their organization’s people, leaders, and culture.
Now is not the time to Google an off-the-shelf template and hope it works. Real change requires a purpose-built plan that’s contextual to your situation and fosters change agility throughout the transformation. To make that shift from change management to change agility means that you can’t treat change like a checklist – it’s a living, breathing mindset that every employee and leader will need to learn to embody in order for transformation to be successful.
And doing this up front helps minimize the time you’ll spend reworking things, leading to fewer messes and less intense issues down the road. In fact, when my clients do this work at the beginning of a transformation, they are significantly more successful than the orgs that put it off until later on the misconception that “we’ll get to that later, when we’re ready for it.”
The 3 Elements of Successful Change-Agility Frameworks
While there’s no one-size-fits-all model for your change-management approach, there are a few key elements that should be part of any change-agility framework, including:
The WHY: You’ll need to put a lot of thought into communicating the purpose and benefits of digital transformation initiatives. And you won’t share this once, or twice, or even 10 times – you’ll have to talk about the “why” every day and in every meeting for as long as it takes. For one of my clients, it took 18 months of communicating the “why” before our internal surveys showed that teams finally got it! It was clear they understood “why” change was necessary, which meant they were ready for the next item…
The HOW: As soon as the “why” lands, you’re ready for the “how.” It’s critical for leaders to provide clear expectations of what the future looks like in your transformed org and the specific behaviors, practices, and approaches that will get you there. For example: How should contributors show up differently? How should leaders lead differently? What is the org moving away from, and what is it moving toward? To note: If you try to tackle this step before the “why” lands, nobody will be motivated to do anything because they aren’t clear on the underlying purpose. Conversely, if you wait too long to communicate the “how” you’ll lose momentum. I know it sounds funny, but you’ll know the moment when the shift needs to happen. It will feel like the next right conversation.
The ENCOURAGEMENT: Organizations that are most successful in transformation are those that encourage all employees to have change-agility practices in mind during their daily job. All the time, every day. And this starts from the top, so leaders will need to make sure there’s enough safety for teams to be bad at something before they get good at it. Encouraging this growth mindset and fostering a culture of continuous learning is critical for employees who need to have a path to develop the skills required to be successful (which I touch on in Part II of this series).
The other big tip I want to leave you with is this: Don’t outsource this work to a change team. It’s not somebody else's job to do it or just one team’s job to push it forward – it’s everybody’s job. People skilled in change (internal teams or external support) can help you chart the course, but ultimately the leaders and employees have to be the ones to run it..
In Conclusion
A change-management approach that is specific to your organization’s people, leaders, and culture is a key ingredient to managing change resistance and employing new ways of working. And you shouldn’t put it off until later – cultivating this mindset needs to happen from day one. That’s the most efficient and effective way to foster change-agility and ensure your team can support a digital transformation that is both successful and lasting.
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