What Is Transformation? Why Is It So Hard To Manage?

By Dean Anderson and Linda Ackerman Anderson who can be contacted at anderson@wpsmag.com 

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Different kinds of change require different strategies, plans and degrees of employee engagement. The inadvertent implementation of tactics that don't fit the type of change commonly leads to failure. Is this happening in your organization?

The three types of change occurring in today's organizations are developmental, transitional and transformational. Change management effectively supports developmental and transitional change, but it is woefully insufficient for transformational change. Understanding the type of change the organization is going through is critical to determine whether typical approaches can work.

Developmental change improves what the business is currently doing, rather than creating something new. Improving existing skills, processes, methods, performance standards or conditions are all developmental changes. Specific examples include increasing sales or quality, interpersonal communication training, simple work process improvements, team development and problem-solving efforts.

Transitional change replaces what already exists with something completely new. The organization must dismantle and emotionally let go of the old way of operating while the new state is being put into place. This transitional phase can be project-managed and effectively supported with traditional change management tools. Examples include reorganizations, simple mergers or acquisitions, creation of new products or services that replace old ones, and IT implementations that do not require a significant shift in culture or behavior.

There are two variables that define transitional change:

The destination can be determined in detail before the transition, allowing it to be managed.

People are largely impacted only at the levels of skills and actions, not the more personal levels of mindset, behavior and culture.

Transformational change is far more challenging for two distinct reasons. First, the future state is unknown when the transformation begins and is determined through trial-and-error as new information is gathered. This makes it impossible to manage transformation with predetermined, time-bound and linear project plans. An overarching change strategy can be created, but the actual change process must emerge as you go. This means that executives, managers and front-line workers alike must operate in the unknown-that scary, unpredictable place where stress skyrockets and emotions run high. Second, the future state is so radically different from the current state that the people and culture must change to successfully implement it. New mindsets and behaviors are required. In fact, leaders and workers often must shift their worldviews just to invent the required new future, let alone effectively operate it.

Without inner shifts of mind and culture, the external implementation of new structures, systems, processes or technology cannot produce the intended ROI. For example, many large IT implementations fail because they require a mindset and a culture change that do not occur. The new systems require people to share information across strongly held boundaries or put the needs of the enterprise over their own turf agendas. Without these changes, people do not use the technology as designed, and the change fails to deliver its ROI.

Traditional change management is insufficient for the people and process complexities of transformation. Because transformation impacts people personally, you must get them involved to garner their support-the earlier the better. Employee resistance is always directly proportionate to the degree to which people are kept in the dark and out of the change process. To create employee engagement, get staff involved in building the case for change and determining the vision for the new state. Consider using group meeting technologies, which can involve hundreds of people simultaneously.

Another engagement option would be to consider a wider range of people for the change leadership team. Provide mindset, behavior and change development to all employees. Use employee groups to identify customers' requirements for the transformation and to benchmark what best-in-class organizations are doing in your industry. Ask employee groups to provide input on the enterprise-wide changes that impact them, and give them the authority to design the local changes improving their work. Before implementation, get them involved in an impact analysis of the design to ensure that it is feasible and won't overwhelm the organization.

When employees are engaged before implementation, resistance is minimized. Use these strategies to support change efforts, especially if they are transformational.

*Reprinted by permission of Workforce Performance Magazine. Free subscriptions to the Digital Edition are available worldwide at http://www.submag.com/sub/wk