Effective professionals as well as those with room for improvement should consistently be given opportunities to improve their behaviors, and thus their performance. You can help them with this by making them aware of their behavioral strengths, as well as identifying any liabilities that are holding them back.
According to the Harvard Business Review, 70% of all corporate change efforts fail. People do not like change and many times will not change unless they absolutely have to. With this in mind, I’d like to share some tips to break down your workforce’s resistance to change.
7 Practical Steps on Achieving Behavioral Change for Workplace Success
Identifying and developing behaviors that are assets to the work being done, and eliminating the counterproductive ones, is critical to personal development and professional success.
Here are some ways to break through that resistance.
- Achieve buy-in through employee involvement. A surefire way to affect change in your workforce is to include their input and involvement in the process.You can present the way you think they should go about it, but let them set their objectives, action steps and ownership of the process. Resolve concerns along the way.
- Create opportunities through exploring options. Which do you think is worse: a change effort failing, or the wrong change initiative succeeding? Don’t feel rushed into making a final decision in terms of direction or approach, especially without taking the time to research options. This is how you come to the right solution. Help employees see that their professional development not only benefits the company, but more importantly, it benefits them.
- Reaching the right consensus through selection and alignment. Lasting change is a team effort, not the result of a unilaterally imposed policy. Work with individuals to create accountability. The result of this approach will be a drive for professional change that everyone owns.
- Present your organization’s case for change. Without giving the impression that nothing is working or being done right, frame the needed changes in terms of a course correction, rather than a complete overhaul. Use the past as a foundation, and talk about changing as a response to need for professional development, changing industry climates, volatile market forces, new technologies and/or regulations, competition, etc.
- Get your workforce fired up about the future – their future. A unified vision is not just about getting people to agree with it, but also about getting them to see how it benefits them, and what things will look like for them after the change process. They should know that not only is the company’s future bright, but that theirs is, as well.
- New skills, new commitment. Empower and be supportive of your employees as they develop new behaviors and skills. Coaching and internal mentoring can be very effective in this regard. Coaches are skilled at emphasizing the positive and treating blunders along the way as the “learning opportunities” that they are. Mentors can be those who have gone through development and improvement process themselves.
- Sustainable results. You’re creating a culture, not just piece-mealing your programs. Monitor and document what works best in practice, and any new challenges as they are identified – then implement what works. Most important, be sure to celebrate and reward successes.
About Windridge Consulting and Winslow Assessments
Windridge Consulting is an industry leader in providing accurate and objective behavioral assessment, feedback and support for hiring and employee development. We work with you to identify the most behaviorally fit candidates at all levels, and we provide ongoing support and assessment expertise to develop your current workforce to their full potential.
Winslow Assessments are recognized by experts as one of the world’s premier employee selection and development programs. They are taken online and assessment results are immediately available to management.
Whether for hiring, developing existing employees or succession management, using behavioral assessments will:
- Help ensure that you hire the right people
- Enhance company culture
- Accelerate on-boarding
- Improve employee experience
- Target professional developmental needs
- Align talent with business goals
- Improve sales performance
- Reduce workplace conflict
- Improve manager communication
- Improve customer satisfaction and loyalty
Click here to learn more about Winslow Behavioral Assessments, or Contact Us directly for personalized assistance.