Why are organisations reluctant to engage with their workforce about big changes, like organisational redesign, restructures and changes to flexible work arrangements?
Before you read on. I want to note that I am using a recent example of the NSW State Government to demonstrate my point. I am not singling them out. Organisations do what they think is right at the time. We can all learn from our choices and seek to do better in the future. I could provide many examples from my experience in all sectors. However, I take the confidentiality of my clients seriously and this one is in the public domain.
NSW State Government example
Recently we saw NSW State Premier, Chris Minns, announce that NSW Public servants would be expected to return to the office. The initial announcement said this change would be effective immediately. This sent many public servants into a tailspin, and for very good reasons. They had
- not been engaged about this change before it was announced, so we caught off guard.
- already restructured their lives to accommodate the work from home arrangements (WFH) that were in place.
- expected that these arrangements would continue and any change would be negotiated
- no time to adjust to this request mentally or practically.
NSW State Government People Leaders
- found out about the change at the same time as their people,
- they had no time to prepared themselves or their people for the change
- had no detail about how they could best make this work for them and their teams at the time of the announcement.
The current state
Whilst 85% of public servants work on the front line and nothing changes for them, that leaves around 60,000 state government employees (15% of the 400,000 strong workforce) who could currently work flexibly. Many have made decisions around
- relocating to regional locations where they could afford to buy a home for their families
- sharing childcare responsibilities
- saving travel time and costs
- are already feeling the pressures of the cost of living and housing crisis being experienced
What’s in it for me?
When we’re engaging our people in any workplace change early engagement is essential if you expect to experience high adoption of the new way of working. In this instance, the case for change was no desirable for employees. The reasons provided were the benefits to other business and commercial property owners. Those things are important to their employer, The NSW State Government, however they are not compelling reasons for employees to make such a big change overnight.
Minimise the negative impacts
In reading follow up state government material, it is clear each agency and team will be able to negotiate arrangements on a per team member basis. The big announcement lacked this detail and caused much distress and unsettlement.
All this stress and disruption could have been averted, had the NSW State Government sort to engage with their employees and negotiate the best way forward – few people are in the position to change there working and traveling arrangement overnight. But given time solutions can be arrived at and decision made.
Its not just governments that take this approach, of throwing a change over the fence and hoping their employees will ‘catch it’. It happens in many business contexts. It’s not surprising this occurs. It takes time and effort to engage with people impacted by the changes you seek to make, but it’s the right thing to do. It’s respectful and it gives employees the opportunity to adopt the changes you’re requesting of them. This approach also builds trust and in the long term will support a culture of open honest communication and employee loyalty.
Importantly it also supports
- the success of the desired business outcome,
- reduces disruption,
- supports continued productivity and
- increases participation and adoption of the new way of working
It’s good for your business, your people and the customers or community you service.