The empowerment stage or stage five of the eight stage model requires endorsement of staff to promote and engage with the proposed change programme.
At this stage rather than the CEO or the executive team driving change at the start of the project, subordinates and team members should now be playing an active role in initiating the change. This might include the use of a new compliance process, following an agreed protocol or use of an IT application for tasks that were hitherto performed in a fashion no longer required.
The empowering stage will need encouragement and monitoring by the CEO and management team to ensure that the change espoused is both positive and indeed desirable.
Step six seeks to recognise and reward staff where project milestones or project successes have been achieved. This is often easier said than done, especially in more traditional hierarchical businesses that do not normal recognise staff achievements. But nonetheless it is still a key achievement point within the change process and should be recognised as such.
Step seven seeks acceleration and energising of the change. Again, not easy when a new process or compliance regime project is spread over a lengthy time frame. Keeping the momentum going is hard. It is useful as previously mentioned to reward interim achievements and milestones.
The final stage, which is step eight, requires the change to be made permanent. From experience the author would suggest that if the project deliverable and desired outputs have been achieved then the benefit to the organisation should be clear for all to see.
This should be carefully monitored by the CEO and executive team, gaining regular feedback on the new processes or system delivered.
For further information and to book your change survey please contact: Marcus J Allen at Thamer James Ltd. Email: [email protected]
Marcus has twenty years’ experience in delivering successful change management projects in the areas of business processes and compliance.
Projects include organisations that have faced mergers and acquisitions and need to embrace a compliance culture rapidly and required assistance with change management. Through to large leisure sector businesses implementing a controls environment with parts of the business resistant to change. A change programme was successfully introduced.
Marcus holds the respected Diploma in Governance, Risk and Compliance from the International Compliance Association and holds a master’s degree in Management Learning & Change from the University of Bristol. Marcus is a Fellow of the Institute of Consultants and Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.