Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity are all threats to the culture of a business and its employee experience. So what can you do to maintain a positive employee experience if your business, industry or market is going through a period of volatility and change?

Communication and involvement

Turning the best made business plans into reality is never easy, but clear communication and employee involvement are vital to helping the change management process run smoothly.

Engaging staff from the start through planning and focus groups, then providing information as it becomes available to help your people feel they are part of the change management process, is crucial. Planning and executing any change communication well will assist in keeping teams engaged and help them feel they are part of the process, driving accountability and a sense of involvement.

Change agents

Employee resistance can be a huge factor in change programs falling short of their goals. McKinsey research has found that 70% of change programs fail to achieve goals largely due to employee resistance and lack of management support.

Appointing “change agents” can be a valuable tool in times of change. Selecting a group of employees to help deliver information, collect feedback and generally ‘test the pulse’ of the organisation can assist in ensuring the change management process runs smoothly.

Ideally these change agents will be employees with some influence and with a natural sense of leadership amongst their peers - people who adapt well to change and show a sense of positivity during times of uncertainty.

Ask for feedback

Whilst it’s important to send information to your team, it’s crucial to listen to employee feedback. Staff need to be encouraged to ask questions and provide their thoughts and opinions – not just at the end of a change program, but at the beginning and throughout the entire change process. It’s important to gather feedback from all layers of the business, collate and review, then respond to concerns raised to ensure team members feel they’re being listened to. The broader the spectrum of opinion the better, as change effects everyone differently and each employee perspective may be different.

Internal feedback is an invaluable source of data and an important tool to assist in process improvement and understanding the employee experience. It enables an organisation to reflect upon its successes and failures – and, importantly, communicate these insights back to employees.

If you would like a copy of the Maxxia-Ignite Global Employee Experience (EX) Report, click here.