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Snap – Internal Communications Solutions.
2
Hot Tips for Internal Communicators
Understand the psychology of change
Don’t let the change curve become a roller coaster
Organizational Change is a complex issue. Many of us do not embrace the need for change, especially
when things appear to be moving along just fine. We are firmly ensconced in our comfort zone and have
a sense of wellbeing. In the business world, however, senior management needs to be at least one step
ahead in order to maintain their organization’s competitive edge. Senior management may read ‘comfort
zone’ as ‘stagnation’ and immediately start planning to innovate and improve.
Prior to announcing any organizational change, someone has obviously thought about the current
situation, analyzed solutions, and come up with a plan. This takes time. This plan is then often rolled
out to the employees. Being suddenly confronted with a change plan, and feeling left out of the loop,
makes many employees feel anxious.
“During times of organizational change, employees can become less productive and question their job
security.” (Ref. 1). Their response to business change is often emotionally charged and if change is not
managed and communicated effectively the chances of success reduce significantly.
‘
The Change Curve’ (Ref. 2) graphically describes the psychology of organizational change. It lists
stages that employees typically move through during a change initiative. These stages range from
Satisfaction (I am happy as I am) through Denial (This isn’t relevant to my work), Resistance (I’m not
having this), Exploration (Could this work for me?), Hope (I can see how I can make this work for me),
right through to Commitment (This works for me and my colleagues). We mustn’t overlook the fact that
when there are significant changes, people may need time to grieve for any perceived or real losses. To
communicate effectively, it is vital to recognize your employees’ mindset at any stage of the process, so
that you can support them, validate their feelings and move them through to the commitment stage.
Typically at the start of any business change initiative employees experience:
Fear; e.g. of job loss or of increased responsibilities
Frustration; e.g. with the process or with lack of information, or even
Acceptance; e.g. they recognize that change is needed or inevitable.
Understanding the needs of your key stakeholder groups and where they are along the continuum of the
change curve enables you to hone your communications plan. Selecting a framework with an iterative
approach, allows you to make subtle (or not so subtle changes) so your role in the change process is as
effective as possible.
AHS Communications provides an ‘Intuitive Change Communication model’ that takes into consideration
the psychology of change and suggests activities for each stage. (Ref. 3)
Try these Snap Internal Communications Channels
Now you know the stages that staff are likely to go through, you can use these tools to assess where
they are on the Change Curve:
Snap Staff Poll is a quick, easy to use staff survey format that is pushed directly to targeted
employee’s computer screens (not delivered by email). It ‘pops up’ on the employee’s computer and
provides options to complete the staff survey now or defer until later. This format ensures high
employee survey participation rates. Snap Staff Poll can help gauge attitude and understanding of
staff. At the comfort zone stage they can be challenged to think about what’s on the horizon.
Snap Staff Quiz is a similar format to Snap Staff Poll. It can be used to challenge the status quo and
raise employee awareness around the need for organizational change. For example, “In our
changing industry, which will be the most effective way to do business in the future? A, B or C?”
Snap Shots screensavers are target-able sequencing messages delivered to the staff screensavers as
digital signage. They can be a great way to communicate key messages to staff without being
intrusive or adding to the email burden. Use a screensaver to show the change curve and allow staff
to click to plot their current mood.