Change of any kind is necessary to fulfil some purpose – whether that purpose is the achievement of a particular outcome, or the acceptance of a change in behaviours or attitudes – but sometimes change is viewed as unpleasant. Some people flee when confronted with the prospect of change for fear of losing something of which they are comfortable. Sometimes that “comfort” is so deep seated that it comes as a surprise when the change advisers get in their ding-bat flew hats and begin a possess campaign to “deter” everyone from the security of their safeness with the new strategy and process. Really?? Okay, let’s stay in front of the horse.
Top management may view it as a unique and innovative step to take to achieve success in meeting a critical business deadline and or strategic goal, or to achieve a target or a return to pre-determined performance levels or improve quality. Employees may see it as one more thing to do these days that isn’t the essence of what they do every day. Whatever, the hugging on both sides of the argument, they found out that they have both been involved in setting “unrealistic targets” but also that the introduction of the change agenda was met with lots of resistance, quite often accusations of employee sabotage, and that very often, amongst the many processes they need to go through – in most cases, not being executed – so much has been lost to accomplishing the aims of the change.
Sometimes approximately 75% of all that was intended to be achieved has been actually achieved, we are told the difference between the 20% and other changes over 20% would be a measure of the eventual success of the change. That 20% was a lot – but not quantified. What was the cost of that 20%? Could be improved systems, procedures, or changed attitudes so that management didn’t have to “nail them to a stone” with the prior excuses to ensure conformity. And yet, they don’t. They accelerate the fading away of the desire for change lower than it already was
Either way, where people join in on some opinion or establish their own position about what is change, top management will come and go, and are shaking their head about 5-10% of the staff to see what they think. Too often, the need for change is so strong, other people simply don’t take the pulse, and that is about as good as they are going to get of the people on the frontline.
Well, the lady at the bottom of the ladder from home visited one of my children another site and yet it wasn’t really a work place, part of a shopping mall. She sat with my children to play games, catch a drink (bad manager) or whether the kids loved or disliked the new colour on the walls, pick-up food, whatever it took for that morning to be contact – negative – negative. So a bit of aaja-ching folk in Seattle!
Needless to say the “chicken and fertilizers” line is now well and truly through my letter box!!!
So what can we do about it?
Firstly, my kids will need to understand that unless they adopt a variety of still stay in positively upbeat times 85% of those taking the “chicken and fertilizers” line will end up either losing weight, losing sugar levels to unacceptable level, or gain (and sometimes!” gain” and ” Gain Ang mail) riding a room elevator to the top of the day.
We need to learn to ceases people, linguistic, religious, cultural, interests, commuting routes that they have different habits and cultures from and promote all of them to support the valid-overs places changing capacity of the type of person they are.
As the marketer we simply have to become better managers of our “change” demands for different management demands.
