Corporate Strategies For Implementing Change

Every company at some point in time will need to make changes. The problem is employees, including management can be uncomfortable with the unknown so rather than helping they may begin to drag their feet. Use smart corporate strategies for implementing successful change.

Not all change is bad. But the minute a company starts to talk about restructuring or changing the way they do business employees believe that they will soon be unemployed. So a couple of things happen. The “** kissers,” start kissing harder and the employees that you’ve always respected are suddenly dragging their feet. They are no longer the loyal helpful employees you had just a week ago.

So how to does a corporation avoid this? By using smart corporate strategies. Smart strategies allow for change to occur without disruption and for employees to feel like they are an important part of implementing that change.

When corporations have to cut costs they commonly start by attacking employee benefits, breaks, and anything associated with the employee. That’s because employees are generally the largest expense they have and they mistakenly believe that this is where they need to cut costs.

Now occasionally this might be so. Perhaps you’ve got some dead weight that’s been kicking around way too long, or perhaps your staff really do get far to many breaks. But in most cases it’s not the case. And if you want to put your company in a worse financial position then it currently is then all you need to do is destroy the morale of your staff.

Remember your employees are the first line of defense. These are the people that conduct business and interact with potential customers and existing customers on your behalf on a day to day basis.

So if you are planning to attack employee packages then at least make sure your staff are involved in the process. Have open discussions. Explain to them what is going on and do it honestly and then ask for their ideas and input as to how to solve the problem. Employee brainstorming is a powerful tool, especially if your staff realize that they are not going to loose their jobs and that you want to work with them to make fair cuts.

Now take it one step farther with your staff. Get ideas and opinions on other ways the company could make cuts or improvements that could be made to save money. These are the people that see on a daily basis what works and what is a waste of time and money. Listen to what they have to say.

Strategies are not the problem, it’s the human element that can destroy the strategy in a flash. Your employees have to trust their leadership in order to have trust in the changes that are about to occur. So when you are going to implement change never forget about the emotional part of the equation.

Individuals are confident in what they do and they are comfortable knowing they are good at what they do. The minute you suggest change fear arrives, making them uncertain about whether they will be able to perform under these new conditions or their new role. You have to be able to assure them that you are still confident in their abilities. You need to make sure your employees are engaged in this new vision so that fear disappears and anticipation arrives.

What ever you do, no matter how difficult it is, never lie or bs your employees. They are smarter than that and your dishonesty will leave them with little respect for you and your leadership and no trust about what the future actually will entail. If employees understand what the company is going through, and how what they do affects that they will be much more willing to play an active role in implanting change.

Businesses never change, only the people that run them and the ideas of what will make a successful business, a more competitive business, and a more profitable business change on a regular basis. So if you want your employees to remain team players be sure to use smart corporate strategies when you implement change.

Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.