Reconnecting After Change
Graham Clark
Steve Macaulay
Many companies are currently in the throes of change; some of it
enforced, some of it by choice. One of the things that here at
Cranfield we have noticed, is that there is a period in between
structural change and the effect that people in the organisation have
in terms of re-engaging, performance dips, picking up again.
Now, Graham Clark, you have been doing some work with clients
looking at change programmes. What have you found?
Graham Clark
Well, I think ones of the things which we have noticed is that people
pay a lot of attention to the structural changes – who is going to go
where, or who is going to be leaving the organisation. But the thing
which really makes the difference for organisations is do the people
really connect with what are we about now? So what we often hear
on the sort of negative side is employees saying well, I knew what we
were about before the change, but I am not quite sure about what
we are about now.
There is a sort of ‘lostness’ reported by many employees in the
process of change, even though the changes make sense.
Steve Macaulay
What effect does this have on the organisation? I am tempted to
say well, get over it, people will eventually catch up.
Graham Clark
Well, I think that not surprisingly if people are not on their best game
then they are really not going to provide the best performance and
they are not really going to implement the change. I think the sort
of received wisdom about change is often that it doesn’t deliver
what was expected, that people leave, that people are
disenfranchised – all kinds of things happen in the aftermath of
change. The old adage that so often we declare victory too soon is
absolutely true around change.
Steve Macaulay
So one of the things that we need to do, I guess, is to say if you are a
manager in this situation so what do I do about this?
Graham Clark
I think that is absolutely key; so we do some of the structural stuff as
you rightly said, and we have thought through maybe even what are
the new job roles, but we need to provide some kind of space for
people to talk about what are they feeling in the process of change.
And so the emotional life of the organisation is often
undernourished in the process of change.
And I think part of the fear for some managers is that if we open this
Pandora’s box of emotions, that all we are going to get is negative
stuff and no positive stuff. I think some managers are very fearful
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April 2010
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Graham Clark
about that. So what we really need to do is to provide a period, at
least, where the role of the leader of change is to provide that sort of
safe area where people can really report how they are feeling and
then for the leader to work with both the positive and the negative
emotions in the process of this transition.
Steve Macaulay
I think if I were on the receiving end and I were saying I need to go and
see my boss about this, I would be saying will they perceive me as
being negative? Will they perceive me as being against change? Is
that something that is likely to happen and what do we do about that?
Graham Clark
I think that is a very predictable and understandable response. I
think it takes a degree of honesty on the part of the leader, so it is
not for the leader to say “So how are you feeling about this? Trust
me”. That is not going to bring about the right response; all it will
bring about is that fairly mediocre “well, it is not really going
anywhere” kind of response. But what we need is for the leaders to
begin to provide some kind of modelling around OK, I understand
that not all of this is absolutely fun for you and I have picked up
some of these things – and that begins to start the conversation.
Steve Macaulay
So open up the process and allow people to say what they really feel
as opposed to what they maybe think they should be saying?
Graham Clark
I think that is one thing; and another one is very much about providing
a degree of challenge even after the change. So creating enough
tension; not always making it nice because I think if we make it nice
and safe again too soon then some of this negative stuff will just
repressed and we will end up with it coming back to bite us at a later
stage.
Steve Macaulay
So be prepared to listen, but also put some challenge in there, some
stimulus to get things moving again?
Graham Clark
Absolutely right. I think some leaders in the process of change really
want to get back too quickly to an even keel in order to prove in
some ways that they have managed change. But I think that this is a
very dangerous strategy and wise leaders of change will keep it a
little bit edgy for rather longer than it feels comfortable in order to
make sure that enough has been debated and discussed – there has
been enough air time for the negative emotions, which sometimes
provide the kind of challenge that say actually we are a little bit off
course here. So let’s hear some of that stuff; it may save us in the
longer term.
Steve Macaulay
Graham, there are some sensible and realistic things to say about
change and thank you for reminding us of those.
© Cranfield University
April 2010
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