2 Things About Managing Through Change (and 3 Things Others Are Asking)

Recently I observed a top management team introduce a proposed new compensation plan to their board of advisers, a select group of employees to whom this new plan would apply. Despite the carefully crafted policy, the advisers did not seem to embrace the new policy wholeheartedly. They had questions, concerns and implementation suggestions. Was the top team annoyed by the reactions? Did they have mixed emotions about their hard work being second guessed? Not sure, but I do know this: I witnessed a change gap in real time.

Mind the Change Gap

Change is a concept that we in organizations live through every day, especially these past months of the pandemic. Savvy organizational members know what change looks like at its most basic: “Unfreeze, change and refreeze,” or the eight steps of change and why transformational efforts fail. However, my research has suggested there is another side of change that is given less attention — how managers and organizational members interpret the changes as they unfold. Knowing the stages individuals go through in order to make sense of change is essential to helping folks adjust, adapt and prosper during change ... and to avoiding the change gap.

There are two things managers and executives should know.

Everyone Has a Different Take

First, interpretations to change do unfold in a predictable pattern, each of which requires attention to different construals.

Initially there are the rumors and suspicions that something might change. Will we get a new CEO, is there a new strategic direction or major product shift at the company, which new HQ location will be selected?

Then, once the change is confirmed, more questions arise. My work suggests that, consistently, there are three questions on people’s minds through its stages:

• When a change starts, individuals ask: “What does this change mean to be me personally?”

• As the change is underway, individuals ask: “How will this change impact my job or work?”

• And as the change winds down, individuals ask: “Was the change worth it?”

When a change starts, most individuals want to understand the impact on them personally. Will a new reorganization mean easier advancement in my career? Will this pandemic mean I lose my job?

As the change takes hold, individuals want to understand the impact on their work and how they do their jobs. Will I have more resources or fewer? Will my work become easier or harder?

And once the change is well underway, each of us begins to ask the question of “Was the change worth it?”

As we started the summer and the outlook was brighter for the ending of the pandemic, we were all beginning to ask and answer that final question.

The fascinating aspect of change as interpretation is that it is never finished.