“Why didn’t anyone talk to us first? We could have saved the company a lot of money. They should have at least come down to see how we do things before investing so much time and money into something that doesn’t work.”
From a manufacturing employee reacting to a failed systems and process transformation
In my work with more than 200,000 employees from a wide range of industries and job types, I encountered feedback like this often. Here are more examples:
- A new robot to automate parts delivery throughout an extensive manufacturing assembly operation that couldn’t accommodate the robotic system’s infrastructure. “Rover” the robot still collects dust in a dark corner next to a pile of broken office equipment.
- Modernized patient interaction protocols that prioritized efficiency over warm, personable patient-provider connection at a small hospital with a funding structure dependent on high patient satisfaction scores.
- A complete re-engineering of operations at a production plant only to find out the exact same change was attempted by a previous plant manager a few years ago and failed miserably.
- An upgraded software system that increased the time required to complete a new customer intake for a team whose performance rating was tied to expedient throughput and rapid customer service.
- Issuing new smartphones power line maintenance workers, but failing to recognize the devices were incapable of performing two core functions: making outbound calls and accessing weather apps.
- Extensive, end-to-end redesign of client-facing operations at a professional services firm to accommodate updates to an online portal that was used by less than 5% of the company’s customers.
In almost every situation, the people making decisions about what to change and how to change it were misinformed. They lacked a clear understanding of how things worked at their organizations and the implications of the changes they were proposing.
As a result, the changes either failed immediately or were begrudgingly tolerated long enough for decision-makers to finally feel comfortable fixing the problem they unintentionally created. Unfortunately, the costs were high and long-lasting. Not only did they waste time and money, but they also damaged employees’ confidence and trust in their leaders.
To avoid wasteful or failed transformations like these, use these three techniques:
1. Before deciding on a change strategy, take extra care to get a clearer understanding of the problem you’re trying to solve and the implications of the solution you want to deploy.
If it’s a culture, values, or “ways of working,” problem, get clear on what’s stopping people from doing it that way now. This is a very common misstep – especially for leaders new to their role or organization who want to make improvements quickly. Too often, they assume employees just don’t want to do it the “right” way. I typically find the opposite is true. Employees often share leaders’ passion for change, but they need the very same leaders to remove the barriers to making those changes possible.
If it’s a structure, strategy, process, or technology change, map out the current and future state in detail. I often find decision-makers skipping this step only to realize they failed to solve the problem or they were solving the wrong problem.
2. Get closer to the day-to-day work.
I realize it’s tough to balance all the responsibilities of an executive decision-maker and that many of us have been strongly advised to stay away from the frontlines to protect our time, but that’s where you’ll find the intelligence necessary for making decisions you won’t regret.
If you’re not getting a feel for the way things operate and the mindsets of the employees at that level, you’re making decisions based on information that has been through multiple layers of interpretation and distortion before it reaches you.
This doesn’t have to be a big production. Keep your interactions casual and friendly. If you have time to pitch in or shadow, I highly recommend it. You’ll gain a tremendous amount of decision-making knowledge and goodwill.
3. Work directly with the people who have the answers.
One of the most tragic missteps I’ve seen many executives make is failing to create an environment that welcomes employees’ ideas and suggestions for improving the business and how things operate. We’re wrong when we say “everyone hates change.” If you’ve spent any time reading employees’ responses to open-ended comments in engagement or culture surveys, you know they’re begging for change. Just like leaders, many employees want to see the business run more smoothly, more efficiently, and deliver more value.
The most common objection I hear is that they don’t want to get people’s hopes up that they can do everything that employees suggest. Not a problem. Here’s a phrase I picked up from a savvy CEO I worked with years ago: “I’m trying to learn more about xyz and how we can make it better, so I’m asking a lot of people for input. I won’t be able to implement every suggestion, but I’d like to get your thoughts.”
The key to using this technique successfully is to be truly open to listening and trying to understand things from employees’ points of view. When leaders get defensive or argumentative, their credibility plummets along with their chances of getting high-quality input in the future.
About the Author
A former communication executive and global leadership advisor, Jessica Walter has been helping leaders solve culture, engagement, and communication challenges since 2002.
She spent 15 years on the executive teams of government, non-profit, and publicly traded businesses before transitioning into research and advisory roles, including senior positions at a global consulting firm.
Her research includes leading multiple studies on communication, relationships, and leadership effectiveness that included input from more than 200,000 employees across multiple industries, job types, and geographic regions. She recently published the insights from her research in her book, Shifting the Energy: How Love Leads Remarkable Teams.
In 2023, she was a featured speaker at the annual conference of the Society of Industrial and Organization Psychology where she gave a presentation on burnout and the joint responsibility of leaders and employees to reduce burnout in the workplace. Her advice has also been featured on CNN Radio and in HR Director magazine, Training Magazine, Training Journal, Exeleon Magazine, Mindful Marketing, Becker’s Hospital Review, and PRSA’s Strategies & Tactics.
Jessica studied Executive Influence at Wharton, earned a master’s degree in Leadership & Business Ethics from Duquesne, and earned a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from Towson. She holds the Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) and certifications as a Leadership Coach, Lean Systems Leader, and Hogan Assessments Advisor.
She lives near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and is the mom to a former U.S. Army Paratrooper from the 82nd Airborne Division.
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