Managing a business is delicate. Beyond numbers a person must have methods to handle employee issues. Change is listed as number one issue associate with high-turnover, inefficiency, rudeness and escalations. Despite what anyone thinks, employees and line-workers are the image of a company, whether a finished product, advertisement or friendly customer representative's voice. Change causes havoc.
A large portion of planning for change is associated with "the Five Stages of Loss." People associate loss with death; however, death is change which makes everyone's restless when attempting to reestablish an uncomplicated life.
The Five Stages of Loss are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. As quoted from "On Grief and Grieving" by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, "They are tools to help us frame and identify what we may be feeling. But they are not stops on some linear timeline in grief."
Denial is expressed in the form of questions. People ask questions in an attempt to understand. Realizations change will happen is delayed until they are willing to acknowledge what happened. Anger surfaces when feeling safe. Formulated thoughts are projected in an outward expression. People communicate logical and illogical thoughts. Asking people to resolve anger ignites anger into rage.
Bargaining involves asking, "if only?" People think if they or someone else did something different the outcome would be different. Maybe if they had not gone to school they would not be sent to another location. Regret and fantasy are complimentary to bargaining. Depression is a time to sulk. People slow down to review information. It is a special time to review the past and attempt to find solutions. Acceptance is when people acknowledge a change occurred. Not remove the change from existence; they are ready to cope with current situations.
One of the first steps in implementing a change is to inform employees what will change. Frequently these changes directly affect them, such as: a computer upgrade. Sometimes it is an upcoming company change, such as: hiring efficiency experts. People do not like efficiency experts. It means people will be fired. Therefore, employees must be informed about criteria and receive updates.
Layoffs might be associated to past record. For a long time people tested boundaries and knew they would not be fired for constantly showing up late or taking additional unpaid vacations. Those without threat work normally, while maintaining a low profile. Those who had ignored company policy await a call to the office.
It is surprising how many people are upset over computer upgrades. They might be adding a Question and Answer System and it is like the end of the world. People grew accustom to their routine. They need to know if they have to read scripts verbatim and if it will effect call times. They already have so many computer screens to toggle through and must log a call within a minute after the call ends. This is too much!
Managers and supervisors should listen to everyone's feedback. There will be many questions and venting. However, this should be active listening. Everyone might need additional hold-time to log calls. If feedback is taken seriously, hold-time is extended to two minutes for a month while adjusting to the new system. It may be tricky to convince someone who is retiring that it is worth staying when these issues arise.
Another issue is the belief a loss only occurs when being demoted, laid-off or losing money. This is not true. All loss is equally important, even when a person receives a promotion or is selected to travel abroad to foreign countries. That sounds wonderful to most people. What is there to feel sorry about? People going through positive change also need time to grieve.
People recently promoted may want to visit their old job. They did everything so well. Every problem had a solution and now they must adjust to a new job, new set-of-rules and new expectations. They may wander around the kiosks or work floor remembering good old days. This is especially abrasive when hired outside the company. They cannot claim to be visiting old friends. Though they are visiting a familiar mentality associated to their former position and wanting acceptance from peers.
Understanding all these occurrences will happen is important in making change easier to cope with for all people: bosses, managers, supervisors and employees. Compassion in accepting odd behavior associated to readjustment is overwhelmingly important to navigating change. Managers and supervisors must push forward until everyone accepts changes and promote acceptance by becoming aloof or facilitating the grief process. Accepting change is difficult, yet every time someone figures out a shortcut or understands how to correct a problem, they are a step closer to getting back to usual work flow.
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