Recent Gartner research found that businesses are now going through an average of 10 change projects a year – up from just two per year in 2016. Such continuous disruption places significant strain on businesses, and most importantly, their people.
At a time when organisations and their employees are facing change at an unprecedented rate, understanding how to support people in navigating it with confidence and resilience is crucial. Unfortunately, a recent WTW study found that 57% of employees say their business is poor at managing change.
What makes change so hard to manage?
First of all, people often underestimate the importance of change readiness – meaning employees are left feeling underprepared, overwhelmed, stressed and ultimately burnt out because of consecutive transformation initiatives. In fact, 100% of HR leaders we surveyed said they’d seen change fatigue and poor wellbeing impact their workforce.
Secondly, businesses regularly neglect to address barriers against effective transformation. 1 in 5 HR professionals said their business hadn’t provided specific upskilling in managing change for their leaders – resulting in a systemic inability across organisations to overcome hurdles throughout the process.
And finally, people fail to consider how they will sustain change, with only 20% of business leaders prioritising ‘sustainable behaviour change’ as a key deliverable for recent projects. Unsurprisingly then, only 1 in 3 major initiatives fully meet the goals set out by the organisation.
If people aren’t ready for impending change, are ill-equipped to navigate the challenges that come with it, and are unable to embed the desired behaviours into their working lives post-project completion, it becomes very difficult to navigate and implement successfully. This is where coaching comes into play.
“My sessions with my Right Management coach have been fantastic. She’s helped build my confidence massively and supported me in enhancing my career. She helped me put together a forward-looking career plan, which has made me feel really confident and excited about the future.”
- Right Management coacheeSo how can businesses and their people begin to understand the impact of change?
James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente developed the transtheoretical model (TTM) of change to act as a framework for understanding how people progress through it – and has regularly been used in career development and transition support.
According to the TTM, there are six states of change that an individual can experience at any time during a period of career uncertainty.
Pre-contemplation: This is where people may have heard rumours of impending change but have pushed it to the back of their mind. They’re not actively considering the impact it could have and see no need to take action.
Contemplation: Employees are now aware organisational change or redundancy is coming and their perception of it is generally negative – anchored on uncertainty, doubt, anxiety or fear. They’re likely ambivalent about buying into change – even if they have an existing sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo – and are yet to see the potential benefits. It’s often during this stage that people will need to reflect on their values, strengths and achievements in order to generate a more positive mindset.
Preparation: People are now getting ready for change. They’re exploring their career options and weighing up the pros and cons. They’ll be working on their CVs and LinkedIn profiles, and will be looking to refresh their value-add in order to update their brand, go ‘out there’ and engage with the job market.
Action: Having come to terms with the fact change is happening, people will now be approaching the market with some confidence in their strategy – applying for jobs and attending interviews. Their sole aim is to understand what employers want and what they as an individual can offer, so that they can ensure alignment to their next role and secure a new career path.
Relapse: This can occur during any stage after ‘preparation’ and is often the result of rejection or a setback, causing an individual to slip back into old doubts and behaviours. While undoubtedly difficult, relapse is perfectly normal and should be seen as an opportunity to reassess and refine strategies for moving forward with success.
Maintenance: And finally, ‘maintenance’ is about sustaining change by embedding tools and strategies to help buffer against future relapses. Once an employee has achieved a successful outcome, it’s important they celebrate their success and set a long-term vision to help aid this sustainability.
Working through each of these stages is extremely important to successfully navigating transformation with confidence and resilience. Unfortunately, when faced with redundancy and other major challenges, people often rush to action without undertaking the necessary reflection and preparation – resulting in them achieving a less than satisfactory outcome or remaining stuck at one point of the process without any idea of how to move forward.
This is why it’s essential that businesses provide coaching support to help people build readiness and navigate this journey with a healthy mindset.
How coaching helps people navigate change
Coaching has, for a long time, been an extremely powerful tool in supporting people’s development and careers, empowering individuals and teams to more effectively drive personal and business success, even when faced with periods of transformation. With such frequent change taking place, many employees encounter issues around fatigue, burnout and mental health challenges, meaning they are increasingly looking for additional support in balancing their professional and personal lives.
A coach can help people identify and pursue career pathways that are right for them, build the emotional awareness needed to maintain positivity during a career transition, and enhance one’s resilience and mental toughness in order to deal with rejection and shape a positive outcome for themselves.
Through objective, outcome-focused coaching, people are better equipped to navigate turbulent times with confidence, building resilience, setting meaningful goals and driving a growth mindset.
“Today was my first day in my new role and so I wanted to say a huge thank you to my Right Management coach. Your help and support were invaluable in helping me secure the position. Whether it was advice, coaching or just acting as a sounding board, your insights were incredibly helpful and I’m so grateful for everything!”
- Right Management coachee
To find out more about the TTM and how coaching can support your people in building ‘psychological capital’ and change readiness, watch our recent webinar with Organisational Coach, Clive Leach.