Communicating the Advantages of Change

When an organization decides to make a change, it is always with the hope that the change will yield major benefits. It is up to you as a manager to make every effort to communicate the advantages of the change to your staff. But be careful. Employees who may be subjected to inconvenience and stress with no immediate advantage are unlikely to be impressed with suggestions that "the changes will enable the organization to be more efficient." When selling the benefits of change, talk to your people in terms of how the changes benefit them and not in terms of advantages to organization.

When appropriate, it may be useful to explain how change can benefit career paths. Change may provide:

• Greater opportunities for self-fulfillment
• Expanded responsibilities
• A favorable change of environment
• New challenges
• Improved career prospects
• Opportunities to acquire new skills and knowledge--to become more marketable and more likely to be promoted

When communicating a change either in the beginning or during the transition process, always be honest, and also try to be positive and upbeat. Be careful not to introduce the prospect of reversing the change. If this is suggested and a reversal does not follow, trust and mutual confidence will be eroded. Worst of all, you will lose the respect of those who loyally adopted the change.

For managerial concerns, call our EAP at 1-800-769-9819 or logon to the Bureau of Human Resources at www.maine.gov/bhr/sos or the Division of Employee Health and Benefits at www.maine.gov/beh

Adapted from Successfully Managing Change, George Hardy, 1997, Barron's Educational Series, Inc. and 1001 Ways to Energize Employees, Bob Nelson, 1997, Workman Publishing Company, Inc.