Keeping your workforce energised during times of change

 

Regardless of what’s going on at work, there are many reasons why your employees might be feeling apathy or other symptoms of change fatigue right now. We have all been through some big disruption and change in recent years, and it’s easy for employees to get distracted and fatigued by it all.

In times of accelerating change, it is possible for business leaders to help their employees stay focused and energised, if you approach change in the right way.

1. 1. Engage employees in the aspirations of your business to protect and reassure them

      Certainty makes change much easier to deal with. Give your employees reassurance by highlighting the importance of their role in the business’s and engaging them in your plans and aspirations for future growth. Tell the story of where you want to go and how they will be a part of that journey. Ask their view or give them options so they’re included in decisions and have a sense of ownership. Give them a project to test the waters of future plans or experiment with a different way of doing things to improve productivity.

   2. Stimulate their creativity while addressing your attraction/retention of critical talent

      Offer opportunities to upskill employees in line with your future talent needs. This might be formal training such as a qualification, or in response to developments or regulatory change in your market, boost your organisational knowledge in that area by asking them to bringing what they have learned back to share with others. If you’re expanding into a new country or market, send someone over to research it.  If there aren’t opportunities within the business that directly relates to their job, a volunteer role such as first aid training or a mental health and well-being advocacy are other ways to trigger a creative response. If they’re passionate about it, they’ll be more motivated and energised. And even if the role doesn’t directly relate to your bottom line, it may well contribute to your organisation by stimulating engagement.

   3. Recognise and nurture improvements and innovation

      Don’t let praise get lost in the ether. Create a framework that allows people to be recognised for their achievement and respond quickly with that recognition, so employees feel encouraged that they are actively contributing to the organisation. If there is a problem, acknowledge it, recognise someone for raising it and asking people what their concerns are. Make sure you listen to their responses and respond with action. Once you’ve taken that action, reaffirm what you’ve just done, creating a culture where problems are solved collectively, and new ideas welcomed and acted on for the benefit of the employees and organisation.

   4. Good communication planning helps the morale and engagement of everyone

      For any changes, whether a process or new product, expansion into a new market or internal restructures, it’s key to plan how you’ll communicate it to all employees – regardless of whether they’re directly affected. The more information you can give, via as many ways as possible (for example, announcement VC or call, follow up town halls, managers’ one-to-ones, the company intranet, a blog, focus groups, weekly meetings and ad-hoc catchups etc), the quicker employees will assimilate the change. Ensure messaging is clear and consistent and that all leadership levels are informed and can respond to questions. In addition, make sure there’s a neutral source of information such as a web page or intranet post, plus a list of FAQs and repository of information for those who want to find out more.

Change causes anxiety – it’s the way the human brain works – so it can’t be avoided but it can be managed. By giving status and autonomy to your employees, showing fairness and certainty, explaining how it relates to them and ensuring that they don’t feel excluded from the process, it is possible to minimise the disruption and keep your employees energised even during a major shake-up.

If you’re about to embark on a process of change, People Puzzles can help you navigate the challenges and keep your employees on board. Find out how we help your businesses. Call us on 0203 633 6830 and speak to one of our highly experienced HR experts.

People Director, Emma Crookes