by Kevin Nash, Ph.D. and Ben Nash

http://www.aspenod.com/

You only have to read the newspaper or watch the TV news to hear about the economic turmoil that we are currently facing due to the sub-prime mortgage debacle and the resulting stumbling stock market. This is giving many organizations cause for concern regarding their business plans for 2008 and beyond. These external economic forces may propel companies into implementing change strategies to adjust to the new economic realities. But for those of us who lived through the troubled economic times of the 1980s and 1990s, we remember that at some point the economy will pick up again and companies had better not make changes that will prevent their businesses from rebounding when the economy bounces back. Business owners and managers need to carefully learn the lessons from the past and avoid the pitfalls of poorly planned change initiatives.

The bottom line is that they need to implement change strategies that are built on proven approaches.

Research from Harvard University and other institutions have identified eight critical steps in planning and executing change to minimize the pain and maximize the gain. These are:

1. Build a sense of urgency for change.

Usually in life nothing happens until we identify some level of urgency or need. Need is the catalyst for change. For example, we don’t start exercising or dieting until we gain a sense of urgency surrounding our clothes not fitting properly. It is the same way in organizations; owners and managers must communicate a sense of urgency to employees by explaining to them the external forces impacting the organization.

2. Build a guiding coalition.

Business owners and managers can not make change all on their own. They need to engage key players in their organization who will support and add credibility to the change. If these key players are not engaged to move the change initiative forward, they may be the people who could block the change from happening at all.

3. Create a vision for the future.

It may seem strange to have this as the third step; however, it is necessary to create a shared vision for the future among the senior team in the organization. Organizations need to set specific goals for change based on the pain they are feeling right now.

4. Communicate the vision.

As Conrad Hilton said about the hotel industry, there are only three key rules for success: location, location, location. In the case of change management it is a little different. The three key rules are: communication, communication, communication. Three critical points that require communication and are needed for employees to buy into the change are:
A. The change will happen and it is necessary
B. How the change will impact the organization
C. And, how the change will impact employee jobs specifically

Without this knowledge, employees will make up their own stories to fill the vacuum and usually these will be more negative than reality dictates. These negative stories will have a negative effect on morale, motivation, and productivity.

5. Enable action.

Senior managers need to outline the vision and goals for change, but they also need to empower people to implement change, which is aligned with the big picture, locally. They need to provide the tools and empowerment for employees to take the imitative and implement the changes necessary.

6. Create short term wins.

Change is hard work and therefore managers need to recognize the effort that employees make in order to make change happen. This involves showing appreciation and elevating peoples’ spirits by celebrating short term wins. This creates positive momentum that will encourage people to perceiver in the change process.

7. Don’t let up

This is critical! Many change initiatives fizzle out due to lack of senior management visibility in supporting the change. Managers must be held accountable for the results they achieve in making the change happen. Research tells us that most change initiatives fail due to senior managers who do not visibly and consistently support the change and keep the pressure on.

8. Make it stick

A change that is achieved must be embedded into the organization’s DNA. This is done by senior managers enforcing the change and embedding it into the organizational processes and culture. To revisit the weight loss example, just as when we lose twenty pounds, we need to maintain our change in life style to prevent it coming back. Organizations need to maintain the new and healthier life style with a consistent focus by managers to ensure that back sliding does not occur.

It all sounds relatively straight forward, however in reality, it’s much harder than it seems. It requires will power, determination, and focus on the part of managers and leaders to overcome the resistance that it inevitably incurs. The change must be driven through. Owners and managers must expect significant resistance from 10-20% of employees. It may be best to not focus on the heavy resistor group but rather focus on the 10-20% on the other end of the scale who may readily accept the changes being proposed. The must use the people who are accepting of the change to influence others in the organization that the change is necessary and in the long run will be beneficial.

Many organizations use outside change consultants to help guide them through the process. Just as many people attend weight watchers or hire personal trainers to help them achieve their change goals with fitness and weight reduction, so organizations too can benefit greatly from the advice and the encouragement of change consultants.

To view Aspen Organization Development’s Change Management Services go to:
http://www.aspenod.com/ChangeManagement.html

By Kevin Nash, Ph.D. and Ben Nash

http://www.aspenod.com/

One of the most important decisions that business owners and managers make is who to hire. According to Fast Money Magazine, “”The most important corporate resource over the next twenty-years will be talent. It is also the resource in shortest supply.”

Research has shown that traditional interviewing has about a 20% success rate in separating the best candidates from average candidates. Hiring managers need to think seriously about developing the skills that will help them to make the right hiring choices. Making the wrong decision can be very costly. If the wrong hiring decision is made, estimates show that it can cost the organization the equivalent of up to one year’s salary for that position. For some positions, that is a substantial amount of money. When you take into account the costs of advertising, interviewing, on-boarding, and training, plus the cost of lost time spent with a candidate that does not work out, you can easily see how expensive it is to make the wrong choice.

Recent research has identified eight key areas that hiring managers should think about when assessing the suitability of a candidate. The first two are obvious. These are:

· The technical skills needed to do the job

· And the number of years experience required to provide the candidate with the ability to make good judgment calls in the position

The Other areas are not quite so obvious. Theses are:

· The value drivers that motivate the candidate to go the extra mile

· The personality traits that separate the average performer from top performers

· The situational factors that can cause the candidate to have an emotional response rather than a well reasoned response

· The ability of the candidate to handle complex information

· And, finally, the ability of the candidate to be successful in non-structured environments.

There are a number of sophisticated psychological assessments on the market that can provide hiring managers with revealing data about candidates’ abilities in many of these areas; however, not all hiring managers have the time or the inclination to use these assessment tools. Another way of increasing the accuracy of making the right hiring decision is to ask revealing questions during the interview and analyze the responses in order to make a balanced judgment regarding a candidate’s fit with the position. The following are eight revealing interview questions that hiring managers can ask to delve a little deeper into a candidate’s potential:

1. What should someone doing this job know and be able to do?

Asking this question highlights the candidate’s awareness of the job requirements and it sets up the discussion for the interviewer to ask follow up questions about the candidate’s own knowledge and abilities. If the candidate is accurate in identifying the knowledge and skills required for the job it is likely she/he will have thought about it and probably have at least some level of expertise in the areas they identify. Of course it is necessary for the hiring manager to think through what the knowledge and skill requirements really are for the job.

2. What is the best job you ever had and why?

One of the key factors in a successful hire is finding someone who is likely to be a good fit with the culture of the organization. By asking about the candidate’s prior favorite jobs, it allows the interviewer to probe into what kind of atmosphere or organizational culture the candidate enjoys best.

3. What kind of problems do you like to solve?

Depending on the complexity of the job, the candidate may need to work with abstract or ambiguous problems that need to be solved. Alternatively the problems encountered may be routine with solutions that can be found in a manual or guidebook. Depending on the requirements of the job, the goal is to get right kind of problem solvers aligned with the kind of problems they enjoy working with.

4. What kinds of things do other people do that annoy you?

Most jobs require people to be good at maintaining and building relationships with others. If this is a requirement of the position, then hiring managers need a candidate who can cope with the ups and downs of relationships at work. Hiring managers are probably looking for someone who has a high level of tolerance for the foibles of others, or at least can maintain good relations by not showing their annoyance toward others. This question can open a conversation about how the candidate handles disagreements and conflicts in the work place.

5. What stresses you out?

We all experience certain situations that are more stressful than others and it is important to understand how the stresses that come along with the position might impact the candidate. Think about what the stressors may be – for example: tight deadlines, upset customers, or extensive travel requirements. Use this question as an opportunity to explore if the candidate is likely to be resilient in the face of these stressors.

6. What energizes you?

This question can be directed either at work activities or activities outside of work. If the candidate, for example, says that they are energized by social or community activities outside of work it probably indicates that they have an extroverted personality type and, depending on the job requirements, may be well suited to work that involves dealing with customers. If the candidate’s response indicates that they prefer more solitary pursuits (i.e. fly-fishing, sewing, computer games), they may have a more introverted personality type that is suited to analytical or technical work.

7. What was the most interesting thing that you learned recently?

Continuous learning is becoming increasingly important for all employees. The shelf life of knowledge may be as short as two to three years, so hiring managers should be looking for candidates that are open to learning new information and ways of dong things. This question can open up a discussion about the candidate’s approach to learning and personal development.

8. What disappoints you the most?

One of the best predictors of employee success is their level of contentiousness. Candidates who express disappointment when others let them down may be the kind of employees that will bring with them a sense of obligation and commitment to the position. Using a more carefully structured set of interview questions such as those above can significantly increase the hiring manager’s chances of making the right hiring decision; however, for filling those highly critical positions it may be beneficial to use the services of an organizational psychologist to provide an independent assessment of the candidates’ suitability for the job.

For more information on Aspen Organization Development’s Hiring and Assessment Services go to: http://www.aspenod.com/TalentManagement.html