“The change is now !” No, in the business world, change is permanent

We all have in mind the famous expression “change is now”

In the company, it’s not just now, it’s a daily reality. Why and how should we support it?

In this article, we present :

1. A look at the cultural changes in the business world that are having an impact on new forms of work
   
2. Identifying the manager’s skills in the face of change
   
3. Links to further articles on change

Cultural change in companies

Assess Manager is conducting a research programme into corporate culture, which has led us to a number of conclusions:

1. Corporate strategies are now defined on shorter cycles: more like 3 years as opposed to 5 to 10 years not so long ago. The world is speeding up, so change is almost permanent.
2. The organisation is becoming fragmented and networked: companies are changing the way they organise their work in a number of ways
   • Outsourcing entire areas of activity
   • Development of the home office or remote working
   • Increasing use of new forms of salaried employment: auto-entrepreneurs, wage portage, partnership contracts, etc
3. The digitalisation of working relationships and customer relations is accelerating and impacting everyday life: webinars, e-CRM, HRIS, etc
4. State organisations are increasingly integrating the notions of productivity, return on investment and savings into their services, and this is having an impact on the day-to-day lives of their employees.

All these changes lead us to believe that one of the key skills of today’s managers is their ability to adapt to change themselves, but also to support change within the company..

The manager’s skills in the face of change

The Assess Manager test looks at managerial skills in the face of change from a number of angles:

1. Adaptability: The more adaptable a manager is, the stronger he or she will be. 3 indicators in the Assess Manager test measure a manager’s adaptability: intellectual adaptability, emotional adaptability and situational adaptability. They provide an indication of the manager’s flexibility in the face of change.
   
2. Their ability to measure, unite and organise change: how, beyond a certain adaptability, are managers able to support change? What skills will be required to help teams deal with change in a positive way, even though some people’s first spontaneous reaction is often to step on the brake?

Supporting change can be broken down into three main skills, in addition to the ability to adapt oneself:

• The first involves analysing change.

Before communicating the changes to his team, the manager will be stronger if he understands the ins and outs: objectives, nature, direct and indirect impacts, potential risks, processes, etc. These are all aspects that the manager needs to be aware of. This is the first skill, often attributed to the company’s management.

• The second skill is associated in particular with the ability to unite people in a context of change, through communication:

To do this, the manager, if he has clearly defined the previous phases or been made aware of them, will then be able to guide his team towards a clear goal and shared objectives. They motivate and unite their team to take them in the desired direction, while demonstrating a positive and enthusiastic attitude! Because change really does require a positive state of mind.

• The third skill has more to do with the ability to make this change operational

organising and implementing the required actions, while maintaining the morale of the troops! Supporting employees and monitoring change while remaining attentive to their needs, and being able to adapt and bounce back from any difficulties that arise.

As we can see, change management is not a stand-alone skill: it interacts with other skills: conveying a vision, taking decisions, developing involvement and trust, adapting, organising, etc.

• Would you like to assess your ability to manage change?
• Would you like to assess your staff’s ability to support change in your company?

Use Assess Manager: it’s an enlightening tool to help you identify your strengths and areas for improvement in this key area:

In our blog, we offer a number of related articles:

– Systemic change theory: this article distinguishes between 2 types of corporate change

– From strategy to action: an article on a book that explains change management in detail, with a real operational guide – for directors and managers