The softness of strategy as support for change management
By Celemma Lara | Human Values Consultant & Team Coach
As of the year 2020, changes in the world have accelerated much more and in a disruptive way, in technology, in consumer habits, in the way employees work, in short, in all areas, generating a great need.
Need for efficient change management
Due to this situation, companies have seen the need to quickly adjust to this dynamic by implementing internal changes in their organizations. When the company prepares to make changes, these become objectives. And the objectives are only achievable if each of its members is convinced of the benefits it provides.
One of the best ways to convince them is by applying the soft part of the strategy in the different stages of the implementation of the change. From here comes the title of this article “The softness of strategy as support for change management”.
Today it is common to observe in organizations how management has had great difficulty in implementing changes. Much of this situation is due to the fact that the proposals designed by managers are applied vertically, in one direction and almost imposed. Without explaining in detail the why or the benefits of those decisions.
Although there are very good intentions, companies are limited in most cases to superficially inform the organizational community about these changes. And then demand in depth its execution.
It is here, where the role of leadership is fundamental so that the transformation processes through change management have a successful outcome. Since the role of the leader is to encourage the commitment of his collaborators and promote the efficient use of the appropriate methodology or tool, therefore, it will also depend on his management capacity.
Frequently, many companies adopt change processes, without actually implementing them or turning them into continuous processes.
Why is there so much resistance to change?
One of the main reasons is that the changes are not generated successfully, much less last if they come from an imposition. It is a human reaction of collaborators to reject the orders imposed, because their brains fulfill their protective function. In addition, one of the psychological needs necessary to create motivation is not covered, which is autonomy (the need to feel that what we do depends on our will) and also interpersonal relationships are affected, because the environment tends to become hostile.
Currently, implementations are not carried out by authoritarian orders, nor under sterile and toxic controls, like some old-school practices. We work looking for spaces of empathy, understanding and complementarity. This makes the approach, procedures and behaviors on another level, where the strategy requires a different look at its hard (technical) nature.
What does a different look at strategy refer to?
Making changes is not just about running a few activities for two or three weeks. It is about having discipline, in such a way that these become habits.
When we talk about discipline at the level of organizational culture, we are talking about the values and philosophy of companies.
And it is at that point of the discipline where the individual perceptions of the collaborators before the change have a lot of influence on the results, because they are the ones who really materialize that change, their work actions, behaviors and attitudes influence the materialization of this.
Hence the need to activate the soft part of the strategy, which is the values.
The best and most efficient means of emotional connection that the leader has with his collaborators are values. If he does not take them into account, he is ignoring what is most important to them regarding their work and personal relationship. And as a consequence the level of involvement is going to be very deficient.
The values represent the impulse to do, specific behaviors, interests, emotions and especially how each person or team perceives reality.
It is essential to connect the emotion of each one of the members with the purpose of the change and the benefits that they will obtain.
A company that does not have its values aligned with those of its work team finds its daily management difficult and it is difficult for it to make the required changes.
It is relevant to highlight that this application has nothing to do with the size of the company, but with the vision with which its strategy is defined.
Therefore, defining the organizational structure and management aligned with strategic values is essential to encourage commitment, make discipline part of the culture and thus achieve any proposed change.
What are strategic values?
Strategic values are understood to be those that intervene in the different phases of strategic planning, which are the values:
Base: The values of the company founders, which influence the entire structure.
Finals: The values with which the company wants to be perceived by its customers.
Instrumental: They are those that the company requires to be lived and to generate the desired organizational culture. It also includes the values of each of the teams and those of their objectives.
There are other categories that are analyzed at the time of strategic planning (or when a business is given structure) that are the declared, perceived and desired values.
If you have doubts regarding any concept or do not know how to implement it, I invite you to talk.
