Embracing change is vital in the workplace, and more companies are looking for leaders who are experienced in what’s known as change management. What exactly does this entail? We explore in a case study below.

What is Change Management?

Change management (CM) is an approach that prepares, supports and helps individuals, teams and organizations successfully and smoothly implement organizational change. Common situations that require CM include technological evolution, organizational restructuring, mergers, acquisitions and crises.

What does CM involve?

Change management has two parts- the people side and the processes side. Successful CM depends on:

• Communication with all stakeholders on the reasons for change, the benefits of the change and implementation details (When? Where? How much will it cost?)
• Monitoring assumptions, risks, dependencies, costs and return on investment
• Providing counseling to alleviate change related fears or apprehensions (if any)
• Monitoring the implementation and modifying/ fine-tuning when needed

Case History:

Overview

Picture this: We recently engaged in a search with a client looking for a Human Resources leader who would serve as a key member of the Executive Team and be responsible for directing all employee functions of the organization. This included the much needed experience of creating visibility to the hiring pipeline, implementing processes and procedures for successful talent acquisition, and evaluating the company’s overall Human Resource function.

Our client wanted to be sure that internal demographics were addressed. They have two groups of employees: the young engineers and staff members with average age of 28 years old and those who have significant tenure and have contributed many years to the success of the company. This group is an average age of 58 years old. It is very important to the Executive team that all staff members feel appreciated and respected in their roles.

What became clear to us was that this team needed someone experienced in CM, due to their desire to recognize the needs of all age groups in the organization, and develop programs and processes that intersect with employee needs.

What we learned

The company’s two senior leaders further explained that as the company continues to grow, they are moving from a “brick and mortar” environment to a life sciences services led company. In order to move toward this goal successfully, they needed someone who could put strategic change management initiatives in place to successfully communicate the message and follow up with processes to best reinforce the change. There was also the need to analyze the spectrum of change from the employees and work with those who may not react well to change.

The leaders separately reviewed the detailed notes and resumes of the candidates and came back to us with their choices for interviews. No surprise, the candidates that stood out most were those with strong CM experience.

Results:

It all came down to three great candidates. All could handle the position; however, one was selected over the others because of their extensive change management experience– on the people side as well as the processes side. Our client knew that their final choice for this position would be able to successfully get colleagues on board with change, and help employees adjust their mindsets to achieve change. In the same way, the final choice showed promise in making sure the right processes are in place to support any organizational change (including strategizing, time management and more.)

Moving forward depends on people, processes and technology working together to assess what’s working, what’s not, and what changes need to be implemented in order to achieve success. Interested in learning more about change management? Reach out to KLR Search Group.