Your Workplace Can’t Afford Nice Change

Do you expect people to commit to a nice cause that looks like fairyland?

 

You probably recall a time when a new workplace initiative was launched with much pomp and ceremony. Months later the only reminder was that faded promotional poster on the notice board.

 

Perhaps the change promised a utopia that was unrealistic, unimportant or both? It was a really nice idea.

 

So what are the implications for workplace culture when the outcomes of change lack realism or relevance?  

 

Without value, real or perceived, there will be no lasting commitment by people. Over time, failed change fuels people’s distrust of future change.

 

People’s change fatigue ironically becomes a motivator to maintain the status quo.

 

Worse still, when change receives a superficial acceptance, a workplace runs the risk of fuelling a passive resistance. This states sees the behavioural goals of change soon transform into ‘nice to do’ and inevitably into ‘not to do’.

 

In his Neuro-Semantic change model, Michael Hall identifies four mechanisms to build meaningful change:

 

• Motivation - change needs energy
• Decision - change needs commitment
• Creation - change needs a plan of action
• Integration - change needs time and care.

 

The bottom line is there needs to be a bottom line for people who are expected to live the change. Outcomes that are merely ‘nice to have’ will result in a workplace resembling a fictional world.

 

Craig Stephens is a performance expert and supports professionals and business owners to maximise their value through presence.