Change.

I think we can all agree that change, whether good or bad, can be frustrating and difficult to navigate in the workplace. Everyone always has an opinion and there is never really a situation where everyone is truly happy. No matter how great the change is, there is always someone ready to complain and no matter how bad the change is, there is always someone ready to defend it. So how do leaders (positioned or not) effectively deal with change within their environment?

I am certainly not a professional on this matter, however, I have been blessed to be around some leaders who are incredibly effective at managing change and helping their teams understand the change as well. If you have other opinions, experiences, or knowledge on this topic, please share in the comments. I'd love to hear more!

One of the biggest changes I have been present for in a workplace that got an incredibly unpredictive reaction was a payroll change at my last job earlier this year. The payroll had traditionally been that employees got a quarterly bonus, each one coming out to around $500 or so for each employee, or $2000/year. The payroll change would eliminate this bonus and instead give employees a raise of a 5 % of their income every 6 months over the course of the next 3 years, capping at $27/hr. I'm not a mathematician, but moral of the story was that everyone would be making a large chunk more in the next year on this system than they would by receiving a $500 bonus each quarter. Let alone 3 years from then! This was a change that positively benefitted every warehouse worker, yet a handful of them were so stuck on, "They are taking our bonuses from us!"

Seeing management navigate this change was interesting as they had already explained it. That's what the hour long meeting was for. Everyone had already been told and shown how it would be a much better deal for them. What more can one do than show the math with one number substantially higher and say, "This is what you make now, this is what you will be making after this change." While this is just one example, the solution ended up, as crazy as it sounds, just letting people be upset. Six months went by and people's paychecks started looking better and the complaining stopped.

In my opinion, as leaders, I think the most important part of effectively managing change is to just give it a chance. The good news about change is it can be changed. If you change something and it doesn't work out, change it back. If you change something and it works but not quite how you thought it would, change part of it. If you change something and it works exactly how you hoped, then great!

What you like or dislike about the organization today may not be that way tomorrow. If you find yourself leading through change, don't be discouraged and don't be complacent, be consistent. Give change a chance.