Employee Research can Reduce Risk and Increase ROI of Major Programmes
If you are considering implementing any large-scale programme of investment – for example major business change – ask yourself the following:
Would you build a house without surveying the land?
Would you drill for oil without knowing what lies below the ground?
Why, then, do people embark on massive programmes of investment and change without knowing what impact it is likely to have on its people, and what motivational and emotional drivers or barriers are likely to affect it?
That’s what happens, though. The vision is developed, the business agreed, so on goes planning and implementation. Sometimes “readiness for change is assessed”, but that tends to be based not on the reality of today – but the experiences of the past. That’s better than nothing, but can lead to some pretty inaccurate assumptions being made.
If you built your house without surveying the land, you couldn’t really complain if your house started to collapse due to subsidence. If you started drilling without a geological survey, you couldn’t complain if you didn’t strike oil.
Why not survey the motivational landscape of your organisation before you embark on a major programme? You’ll reduce the risk of waste and failure, by identifying potential sources of conflict and barriers to change, and weaknesses in your capability to deliver; as well as strengths and potential drivers of success that you can build your communication and engagement strategies around.
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