Leveraging change for long lasting impact in organisations

Change is inevitable, but creating impactful, sustainable change? This was a topic that Steve Boese, Co-Founder, H3 HR Advisors sought to explore last month at HR Tech Festival Asia 2024, where he discussed how organisations should seek to use trends within the workplace to create permanent, lasting change.

These changes are, as Boese would explain, a part of how the workforce is now formulated that would affect the state of organisations within, including the advancement of technology, changing economic factors, and new, cultural norms that affect the makeup of society and how people work. This would mean expanding the base of how organisations identify talent, such as searching for candidates from different backgrounds, education, and even locations where possible, in creative ways.

At the same time, organisations would also have to consider making additional investments in employee development, to reskill and upskill employees to meet the challenges that change and new technologies bring. “Organisations should take advantage of the new entrants into the workforce who often bring with them expertise and enthusiasm for new digital tools,” he shared. “These employees can be used to help more experienced workers manage the transition to new tools and to bring new and fresh perspectives to the workplace.”

The act of implementing change within organisations and their processes can be a daunting task, considering the make of humanity being one of routine and habit, so what can organisations do to ensure that change happens across all levels of the organisation for the long run? It starts, Boese explained, by involving as many stakeholders in the design of these changes as early as possible. “People want to be included in the design process of changes that are going to directly impact them and their experiences at work,” Boese shared.

He emphasised the importance of consistent and open two-way communication throughout the implementation and adoption process when applying and securing change in the organisation. “This communication should include a clear explanation of the benefits to employees of whatever changes are to be made, and they should be articulated in language that resonates with them,” he explained.

Boese, however, is optimistic about the openness of employees to embrace and effectively serve as change agents within organisations. “If the organisational culture allows people to experiment, gives them some safety and space to sometimes fail and not be harshly treated or disciplined, then most employees will be more open to change and new ideas and improvements.

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“So, the mindset needs to be one of openness, curiosity, willingness to try and sometimes fail, and most importantly, to share and learn from these efforts. Most people want things to be better at work and when they feel safe and supported by their colleagues and leaders, then good things tend to happen,” he concluded.