We see study after study talking about what are those magical three elements that are going to magically make your leadership challenge of change initiatives successful. What are those top three things that could be considered Change Management Success Factors? In our minds, they are:
- Leaders – Leaders sponsor and champion the change effort. Leaders are behind change management publicly. Leaders are behind the change initiative in their communications, in their actions and in their behaviors. Leaders are out in front championing the change.
- Vision – A clear and compelling vision and case for change, and a strong communication plan in place behind that change management vision. People anymore are not like sheep going off to do their job. People today are interested in knowing that what they do is in service of the greater good of the company. That means that in any change management initiative, a leader is going to have to stand up and have a clear and compelling case for who are we, what are we about, and why are we doing this.
- Engagement – So if you have leaders standing up and saying “This is why we’re doing this… This is what we’re doing… This is how you can be a part of this journey” this will invite people to come and be a part of the change.
That engagement becomes the platform, along with leadership alignment and the clear case for change that really becomes the platform for making change stick at the end of the day. When it’s all said and done, change that sticks and achieves desired results is what you should be after (No magic there, right?)