Change is an inevitable occurrence within any growing business. Change impacts how people do their work, the circumstances they operate within, and can impact workflow, job roles, management structures, reporting systems, and ultimately disrupt an efficient workplace.
However, within the current workforce climate, change is no longer a sporadic event – it is an ongoing circumstance that organizations must adapt to in order to enable their continued growth and success.
How change is managed has a profound impact on an organization’s employees and their ability to excel within a shifting corporate landscape. In order to implement large scale changes, organizations must ensure the proper training or retraining of staff to best equip their employees to navigate the transition smoothly.
Jonathon Karelse is a co-founder and partner at NorthFind Partners, a consultant firm specializing in operations and supply chain management that assists businesses with continued improvement and sustainable development. He explains that fostering reciprocal relationships that enable employees to contribute to and provide feedback regarding major organizational changes is a step that organizations must undertake in order to proactively advance growth. These measures ensure that change is adopted sustainably while keeping with the organization’s long term goals.
Jonathon Karelse also emphasizes the importance of these initiatives to companies of all sizes, not just big businesses, as even smaller entrepreneurs must be forward thinking if they want to see steady growth for their operations.
In short, training improves the probability of change management success. Initiatives like these provide an opportunity to demonstrate corporate leadership while engaging staff members at all levels and including them in the transition process while simultaneously providing support.
As demonstrated by previous studies, engagement reduces the risk of dissatisfaction within the workplace, making employees 87% less likely to leave their companies. In fact, negative employee attitudes and unproductive management behavior account for 70% of all change initiative failures.
Karelse emphasizes that it is in the best interest of an employer to incorporate comprehensive training, resources, and employee engagement opportunities within the transition process to foster employee excellence and retention.
Training within change can also provide employees with the skills, resources, and support they need to succeed in a new environment. Implementing training programs requires leadership among management who must assume the following responsibilities:
- Communicating and engaging with employees about the change to foster an inclusive and participatory workplace environment.
- Advocating for the new changes implemented in order to demonstrate their value.
- Coaching employees throughout the transition process.
- Manage resistance to changes and deal with issues that arise.
Implementing a training strategy requires leadership across all corporate levels, however the investment is essential to the long term success and growth of an organization.
