The only constant is change, and this may be especially true for business. Organizational change management (OCM) refers to a framework for managing changes in a company’s organizational structure, technologies, economic priorities, culture, or processes.
A manager who is skilled in OCM best practices will be a people expert. They will have a high degree of emotional intelligence, strong communication and decision-making skills, a great deal of empathy, and the ability to delegate tasks without demanding too much oversight.
Organizational change can have many referents. It might be a strategic change that affects a company’s policies, mission, or processes. It could be a structural change that precipitates the reshuffling of teams, hierarchies, responsibilities, or the chain of command. It could be an unplanned change. (For a recent example of an unplanned change, think of the Covid-19 pandemic’s effect on the physical workplace and on the pivot to virtual work.) It could be a people-centric change, like one that involves a sweeping change to employee benefits and time-off policies. Ultimately, organizational change is impactful and may even feel unsettling. It needs to be managed and governed properly through organizational change management (OCM) best practices.
Ahead of organizational change, leaders must prepare for certain inevitabilities. They must be skilled at resource management and gather the necessary resources (financial, physical, and human) to meet project objectives during a time of upheaval. They must be prepared for some resistance from their team members, as any change can take unpredictable tolls on those it affects, and an organizational change will likely affect employees’ personal lives, routines, and emotions.
Done right, organizational change management (OCM) has the power to reap many benefits. Below are a few common ones.
1. Improving employee purpose and level of engagement
2. Empowering employees to harness the benefits of organizational change, especially if these changes allow greater efficiency
3. Improving efficiency by streamlining processes and timelines
4. Identifying pain points and addressing them
5. Training employees to adapt to new products, processes, or business models
6. Enabling general success and growth down the line
7. Helping employees feel comfortable with changing tack
8. Identifying legacy systems and processes
9. Answering various cultural needs
10. Helping people’s voices be heard
We are a change catalyst for our customers, who rely on our exceptional ability to implement OCM successfully.