Dust of your best suit and brace yourself
Believe me, I know my Kotters from my Kanters, and find change management a
fascinating subject, both in theory and practice.
I am all for ‘selling the vision’ and in doing so, as a reformed teenage
pyromaniac, I have created more than one burning platform – only some of which
were intended to create change.
Change is good – except when it is in your own backyard.
I advocate bringing on the change agents and throwing out the handmaidens.
But when it happens to you (as it did to me a few weeks back), all the theory
in the world can’t rationalise those most basic of human emotions – fear,
uncertainty and the need for fags and booze.
We made a new senior appointment – ‘senior’ senior. When I was told about it
(four hours before the rest of the business), the first thing I did was look
around for an ashtray.
So how did I deal with it? Well, after three days of flapping, I made a
plan: ‘my first 100 days with my new boss’ – and dusted off my best suit.
Whatever happens, always look showbiz.
So far, we have reached day 17 – the wheels are still on the wagon, and I
intend them to remain there. So why bring up the saga now? To impart my
learnings, of course: always keep your best suit clean, and remember what it’s
like to be on the receiving end of change.
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As HR, we’re privy to almost everything within our organisation. That gives
us a certain calm in dealing with change. The rest of the business must feel
the way I did more often than I’d realised. When we’re managing organisational
change, we should make the vision a little more compelling, the climate a
little more temperate. Think twice about dousing the platform in petrol before
setting light to it.
Hartley is an HR director at large
