The pace of change has intensified for organisations in recent years, especially as they seek to navigate AI and a greater focus on sustainability. To do so effectively, those heading them up must lead, not manage, says Colin Hughes, head of the Graduate Business School at Technological University Dublin.
“The ability to lead change is one of the most important modern leadership competencies,” he says. “I purposely say ‘lead’ change and not ‘manage’ change as I believe that the approach taken to implementing change is often too heavy on the latter.
“Organisations often seek to manage change quickly in a very top-down manner, with talk of the ‘urgent need to change’, the ‘burning platform’ and with lots of [Microsoft] Excel files and PowerPoint decks. While effectiveness in managing change activities and processes is important, quite often there is inadequate time spent really engaging with employees, communicating a credible vision and highlighting the opportunities or benefits of change. We often rush through the ‘why’ of change and get straight into ‘doing’ the change. As a result, lots of change efforts are ineffective.”
The pace of change is already stressful for employees. “It can lead to huge uncertainty for individuals and their future, and very high levels of workload,” he cautions. “Therefore, change can have a very negative impact on wellbeing and culture. Trust is dynamic and can be easily damaged if we get things wrong, or enhanced if we get things right.”
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Several factors can help make an organisation ready for change. “Many organisations are lacking the agility to change quickly. In larger organisations, there are lots of layers and decision-making power can be concentrated in small senior teams, often too far away from the action, from where the customer is.
“This can be extremely frustrating for employees who can sometimes see the issues and have obvious solutions. The need for leaders at all levels is not a new concept. However, it is perhaps more important than ever. Given the pace of change, we cannot rely on small senior teams to have all of the answers and to make such a volume of decisions in a timely manner.”
Research suggests that trust is a crucial in ensuring change-readiness and effectiveness.
“We need to create high trust cultures – in both directions. Senior leaders need to grant autonomy to leaders below and employees need to have trust in the ability and vision of senior leaders, or else they will be unwilling to follow them and less committed to change efforts,” he says.
In high-trust cultures people share information openly in both directions. It means there is what trust researchers refer to as “disclosure-related” trust, he says.
“Where this is present,” he says, “employees across an organisation will share information and insights which are important to the change effort, while senior leaders will share information transparently with employees and be honest about the impact that changes might have on them. Strong open communication reduces the amount of time people spend discussing rumours and worrying about the impact of change.”
Vision
Leaders at all levels needs to have a vision for the future of the organisation, or their small part of it, he adds.
“They need to be at the very top of their game, in tune with industry trends and changing customer needs. They shouldn’t be waiting for a senior team to tell them what way things are moving. They should be among the first to know and have a vision which they trust in themselves, and they should be able to effectively communicate with, and influence, senior leaders and their team members.”
It is why senior leaders need to encourage and support the development of mid-level leaders, including upskilling in areas impacting their business, such as AI and sustainability, but also in building high trust relationships and strong team cultures.
“Such focus has two advantages,” he says. “It develops and enhances the career prospects of mid-level leaders, some of whom will become senior leaders within the organisation; but it also enhances change-readiness and effectiveness.”
