Managing the People Side of Change
A division of a large, multinational engineering firm experienced significant change: a burst of growth, a reorganization, new leadership, and a new hybrid work policy emerging from the pandemic. This meant staff needed to navigate new individual roles and responsibilities, in addition to ways to work together as a team to deliver on shared values and goals.
ChallengePraxis HR was hired to conduct an assessment and provide a structured change management approach to facilitate current and future transitions.
ApproachPraxis HR’s initial assessment, during which we interviewed staff from across the division, revealed that the many rapid changes had caused fatigue and confusion among staff. This was to be expected; when any change happens — no matter how big or small — it can disrupt everything from processes and structures to behaviors and mindsets.
We were tasked with helping the division manage the people side of change — ensuring staff understood why changes were happening and how they would impact their work lives. We proposed a proprietary structured change management approach that ensures people are able to engage, adopt and use current and future changes to their benefit. This structured approach creates awareness of the need for change, fosters desire to participate in and support the change, provides knowledge of how to change, supplies tools and resources to implement the change day-to-day, and reinforces the change in a variety of ways. It offers clear goals and measurable outcomes for change management activities, and, when executed well, makes change feel seamless and positive.
Guided by staff ideas, we proposed applying this change management approach to a variety of changes, beginning with the new hybrid work environment and extending to a culture initiative, a leadership team development initiative, and more.
OutcomesPraxis HR’s structured change management approach successfully enabled the division to realize its three main priorities: to build a dynamic team in which members support one another through collaboration, to create a stronger and more unified division, and to integrate diversity, equity & inclusion principles and practices to enhance the lives of staff, clients and communities.