I read an excellent book this week on the subject of Change Management. It is called Managing the Dynamics of Change and it was written by Jerald Jellison, PhD. You can find the book here.
I've often thought that when it comes to change management there isn't a whole lot that is new under the sun. The models and ideas that help move change management forward haven't changed a whole lot for the last few decades. Jellison has taken the old change concepts and presented them in a fresh way with some new insights. One of the insights he presented really got me thinking.
When we lead change in organizations, we always face employee resistance. It's basic human nature in action, and we are all subject to it. When change is first announced it is often met with strong resistance, lowered productivity, and sometimes even hostility. Gradually, the change becomes accepted and performance rises again. But it is quite the journey.
One concept that Jellison describes in his book is the notion of front-loading employee rewards to coincide with this difficult time. I think that is a fine idea. If you think about how we traditionally offer rewards, we wait until the change is over and done with before rewarding employees for the difficult work of change. But as Jellison infers, by the point that the change is "done" most employees are feeling fine. The reward becomes a perk instead of a motivator.
If we can instead take our rewards and motivators and apply them during the hardest moments of change - is there an opportunity to help move the change forward faster? I haven't seen data on this, but I suspect there is something to the thought.
What kinds of rewards might be helpful during a long change process?
- Recognition and Praise
- Lunches or Events to commemorate the hard work everyone is putting in.
- Bonuses or incentives for completing early stages of the product work.
These are just a few ideas. But if you are looking for ways to accelerate your change process, offering rewards earlier in the process may be an experiment worth trying. Considering my own experiences with leading change - it seems plausible at least. I'll keep you posted on how my experiments go.
Do you have an idea for speeding up change? If so, post a comment or send me an email.
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