Managing In Our Changing World Blog
Change, Change, and More Change! Louis Efron, a Globally recognized speaker, writer, thought leader, and award-winning Fortune 500 people executive sat down with FSBT SHRM Chapter to talk all things Change. Efron eloquently walked us through the journey of managing organizational change in such a transformational time. You simply cannot speak on the evolution of workforce without mentioning the COVID-19 pandemic. Professionals have gone from an in-office work environment to a remote workforce in a matter of weeks on a global scale. To put that into context, the amount of change the World has seen is faster than ever before. Being agile, moving quickly, and adapting to change swiftly are all characteristics needed to survive. Efron illustrates strategy to achieve these characteristics in three main points: purpose, strength, and culture.
The Need for Purpose
Managing Our Changing World is a significant topic. Imagine a world without your organization or industry? The need for Purpose is the tip of the spear needed to manage change in our organizations. Organizational Purpose has shifted in value overtime. The 1990s was the “WHAT” era and focused on meeting functional needs and expectations. The 2000s was the “HOW” era and focused on driving consistency and serviceability. Our current era introduces the “WHY” where the focus is to drive emotional bonds and value for customers, teams, and employees. We understand making a profit is a requirement. Organizational purpose cannot be fulfilled without making money. Stakeholders want to know what the company does for customers and the world above making money. The need for purpose can drive The Great Reshuffle or The Great Resignation.
Transforming Weakness to Strength
The Model for Large Scale Organizational Change includes identifying strengths, the right fit, great managers, engaged employees, engaged customers. Sustainable growth, real profit increase, and stock increase. People come to work because they want to make a difference.
Talent vs. Strengths
Talent is a naturally recurring pattern of thought, feeling and behavior that can be productively applied. A strength is the ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance in a specific activity. Talents can be developed into strengths.
Culture Transformation Framework – (Re) Define, Align, Drive, Sustain
How does culture relate to engagement? Engagement vs. Culture- Engagement is the ‘Performance Dimension’ of culture, but only a sub-set of the overall organizational culture. Culture is owned by leadership and has a company-wide focus. While engagement is owned by managers and has a local team focus. It doesn’t matter what you say, it matters what you do. Walk the walk and talk the talk. Action is important.
Lastly, Innovation! The innovation of communication is one of the great aspects of change the speaker presented. The time gap between communicating via smoke signals to communication via the cellphone took 4,000 years!! Now, moving from the first phone call to smart phones took us 125 years to accomplish. The exponential change took that long. Technology we have today will double and be twice as advanced in 12 months. We must ensure we are identifying the need for purpose, transforming weakness to strengths, and engaging an appropriate culture to cope with the changing times.
Raychel Chism, Student Vice President
Forbes School of Business & Technology® SHRM Chapter
