Change Management

I received an email from a colleague who was responding to the article we linked yesterday from Working Knowledge. Seemed as though that article hit home with her, too, as she had gone through a similar experience when the large multinational she worked for went through a period of pronounced change. Here's what my friend said (I've removed references to the specific company cited in the email):

What Cyndi Joyner talks about in the outsourcing article is spot on. I have experienced both the well planned change initiative as well as the flash cut. While working for [a multi-national company] where the largest proportion of employees had traditionally been in the loyalist camps, I had the daunting experience of guiding people through the flash cut. The results were devastating for most. It is further my view the [company] culture has never recouped that same kind of loyalty. Understanding the business needs and the value of change is important, but understanding the impact not only on those who lose their jobs but also the impact on those who are left behind to continue the core business is major. Many businesses underestimate this effect and pay double in the end for that they see as dealing with the pain quick and dirty.

Whether implementing a dispersal strategy, adopting more of a mobile workforce, or outsourcing - change managment plays a crucial role in facilitating the transformation of an organization. Managing change presents many challenges, and Mark Sanborn has identified ten reasons why organizational change often fails.