the best ways to introduce change into companies

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

It can be difficult for people to adapt to change, but sometimes making the change can be an even more daunting task. As much as people may want to resist change, it can be dreadful to be the one with the job to manage the change effectively, especially in the workplace. Human resource management training and various hospitality courses often discuss the issue of change because all managers and future managers will come across it at some point in their careers. It’s important for managers to know how to handle making changes in the workplace effectively and to get everyone else in the workplace on board with the changes as well.

Experts in the hospitality industry discuss the best ways to introduce change into companies. The first step, experts suggest, is to create a new definition of success. You should set new improvement goals that meet the redefined success. Your new definition of success should be based on improved results. The second step is finding the tools that are going to be required to achieve a very different set of results that the company had been used to achieving in the past.

The last step requires that you work on winning people over and motivating the organization to acquire those new skills and then to stretch to meet the new results objectives. Human resource management training experts agree that this last step can be the most complicated part of the process but it is extremely important.

Hospitality courses teach managers about the importance of making sure this process goes smoothly. Some people need to be treated delicately, and some people will resist change and refuse to get on board. When this happens, experts say it’s best to identify these resisters early on so that you can work over time to try and convert them. If they still won’t change after that, then you need to remove them from the organization. However, this won’t occur often. Experts say that usually about 85% of the organization will most likely accept and adapt to the changes. Only a small percentage of people are resisters.

Managers are taught to not only implement necessary changes, but to also identify and transfer a new set of skills to people so that they can work effectively to achieve the results. If done correctly, implementing change can be very rewarding especially when you get to see companies reach far beyond their goals and become successful. The only roadblock to failure is not moving fast enough to get rid of the resisters. This is usually due to the fact that so much time is spent trying to convert them. It’s good to be optimistic about being able to change these people, but if you don’t move quick enough you might be letting them hold you back which will eventually affect the ability to achieve your goals.

Another problem managers may run into is trying to convince people that change is needed when the performance of the company is doing well. It’s much easier to convince people a change is necessary when performance is down and they are dissatisfied. Although it can be tricky, it’s very important to make people comfortable with taking a risk because it can ultimately advance the company as a whole. Human resource management training experts suggest that you work with groups and teams rather than focus on people individually because groups are more open to taking risks.

Overall it’s important to remember that there is always room for improvement, and the trick is to convince others to think similarly. Experts advise managers to remember to celebrate the smallest successes, look for early wins, reinforce the change process, and root out the resisters as early as possible. If you follow this, you have a high chance for success.