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Workplace developments like hybrid working and artificial intelligence have brought a cascade of sometimes destabilizing changes that many people have struggled to keep up with. Such changes can leave employees feeling as if the rug has been pulled out from under them. How can leaders stop change from undermining workers’ morale and productivity, and help their people regain a sense of control?
A good place for leaders to start is to question whether they are pursuing the right objective. A leader who was involved in planning a particular change, for example, will have had time to come to terms with it well ahead of most employees. Once the change has been widely announced, their objective might be for team members to accept it as easily as they did (overlooking their own head start) and quickly return to their usual levels of productivity.
However, this perspective can undermine effective communication. If a leader mistakenly believes that everyone is on the same page they are, they might feel that a few simple notifications are all that’s needed to keep things ticking along. The risk here is that basic updates don’t acknowledge people’s underlying concerns — the kinds of reactions that prolong change and delay the return to productivity.
To better manage change, leaders should shift their objective to helping people reclaim a sense of control so that they find it easier to adapt. Granting people a measure of personal freedom makes it more likely that they will feel invested in the process of change and be able to accept it more readily.
Examples of agency include allowing someone to choose which tasks they’ll prioritize or to select the tools and methods to complete a task. They can also be asked to participate in the decision-making process or help improve workflow, or be given more leeway in creating new sales opportunities or a greater say in recruitment. However, which options a leader should offer employees comes down to what’s important to people — as discerned by the leader through effective communication. That begins with attending more closely to individuals’ emotional reactions.
Recognizing Emotions and Reactions
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of our clients found that asking their people to work from home created sudden, profound change. Their experiences showed that individuals are generally good at coping with change temporarily but that it’s harder for them to make a long-term behavioral shift. People can mask the impact of change temporarily, but for effective long-term acceptance, their deeper emotions need to be acknowledged and resolved. Below, we share the most common responses to change we’ve observed, along with tactics that leaders can use to help people regain a sense of control and ultimately find their way to acceptance.
Shock. At the outset, a big change can provoke confusion and anxiety. When confronted with something new, an individual can feel isolated and insecure, perhaps falsely believing that they are the only one who doesn’t “get it.” They need reassurance and a sense of safety. Acknowledge that the individual is experiencing shock and insecurity, and address their immediate concerns sincerely — but avoid bland positivity. Responding with empathy and transparency opens the way for further dialogue and shows respect for the employee as an individual.
Honeymoon period. While anticipation of something new may be a cause for excitement for some, positivity might be driven by hope and expectation rather than grounded in reality. Leaders encountering this reaction should not mistake initial enthusiasm for acceptance. Check in with individuals regularly to gauge how they are currently feeling as they adopt changes to how they work. For example, an exciting new technology may turn out to be more complex in practice than expected. Listen closely for what support an employee may need if their enthusiasm is flagging.
Provisional acceptance. People may cognitively know that change has benefits, but they might want to test changes before wholeheartedly embracing them. This is acceptance without full commitment. Build the case for change by working with employees to set short-term goals, and help them identify specific tasks involving the new processes or tools that yield easy wins.
Grief. As people try to come to grips with something new, they may mourn the loss of the familiar and even fall into despondency and melancholy. To maintain morale, keep up regular check-ins with employees to develop and strengthen your personal connection to them and their confidence in your support. Ensure that they have some degree of agency in choosing how they engage with new ways of working.
Frustration. Simple tasks may be prolonged both by wrinkles in the new setup and by time needed to adapt. Resulting irritation may trigger disruptive comments or actions that delay acceptance. Reduce the risk of frustration by recognizing and acting on genuine concerns while cutting some slack for people venting about the basic challenge of change.
Approval. It may take time for people to get onboard with the change and embrace it, so it’s important to consolidate the shift in mindset. As benefits achieved through the change become clear, communicate those successes and invite employees to share their stories of how their own work has been improved or new projects have been enabled. This underscores that the journey has been a collective one and that employees themselves have the power to be change agents.
When managing change, leaders can help people reclaim a sense of control by giving them a degree of agency, particularly when setting short-term goals, maintaining morale, and offering encouragement. At first glance, these suggestions may seem like they will slow the process of acceptance. But when employees have a hand in how change is implemented, they find it easier to accept — and are more likely to quickly settle into a new way of working.