Change Management Tip Sheet
Introducing change to your employees
Question
How do I explain “why” the change is
happening including the risk of not
changing?
How do I share with employees the
nature of the change in context with the
broader vision and direction of the
organization?
How do I encourage dialogue with my
employees by asking them to provide
feedback and to raise their questions
and concerns about the change?
How do I visibly demonstrate my
personal support and enthusiasm for the
change (my employees saw me as an
advocate or sponsor for the change)?
Managing employees through the transition
Question
How do I identify any areas of resistance
to the change and effectively managed
this resistance?
How do I provide ongoing information
about the change and ensuring that
employees had the time necessary to
attend training?
How do I mentor employees during the
implementation of the change and
provided a safe environment for
employees to practice, to make mistakes
and to adapt to the change?
Strategies
 Draft a Communication Plan using the ADKAR and/or AIDET model
 Provide a clear definition of goals and objectives
 Articulate the business case for why change is needed
 Relate the change to the vision of the organization
 Be specific/clear about what behaviors need to change
 Relate the change to the vision of the organization (i.e. the Vision 2020 and
the business unit’s Strategic Plan)
 Develop Sponsor Roadmap by creating a schedule of events around the
change to engage with employees
 Use Employee Rounding and Stoplight documents to engage employees
 Keep lines of continuous (two-way) communication open (face-to-face
methods are best)
 Communicate (written and verbal) results of the change
 Demonstrate personal behavior changes that reflect the change (make
decisions that show ongoing support)
 Allocate necessary resources to enable the change
 Realign priorities/remove barriers to support change
 Listen and act on feedback received from the staff
 Check in at least monthly with those impacted
Strategies
 Plan for resistance and create a reinforcement management plan
 Use the ADKAR instrument to assess the root cause of resistance per
employee
 Listen and act on feedback received from the staff
 Check in at least once monthly with those impacted (Employee Rounding)
 Develop a training schedule that effectively and timely accommodates all
impacted employees
 Assess training levels and ensure that training content includes a learning
retention and transfer
 Use Employee Rounding and Stoplight documents to engage employees
 Coach employees according to their feedback from their ADKAR assessment
 Keep lines of continuous (two-way) communication open (face-to-face
methods are best)
 Communicate (written and verbal) results of the change
 Reinforcing and celebrating success
Question
What steps do I need to take to publicly
recognize and celebrated achievements
and successes achieved by my group?
How do I recognize individuals for their
contribution and support throughout a
change transition?
How do I put in place measurement and
performance management programs
aligned with the change so that my
employees’ progress was measurable
and observable?
How do I hold employees accountable
for compliance with the change and their
performance in achieving the objectives
of the change?
Strategies
 Generate rewards in the frame of reference of the person whose behaviors
you are trying to reinforce
 Be specific/clear about what behaviors need to change
 Provide clear definition of goals and objectives
 Be specific/clear about what behaviors need to change
 Acknowledge high performers privately and publicly
 Ensure the reinforcement immediately follows the behavior
 Establish performance measures before the implementation of a change
initiative such as project goals (financial, productivity, and quality) and
individual metrics (i.e. adoption, utilization, and proficiency)
 Measure employee performance weekly, monthly, and quarterly
 Realign priorities/remove barriers to support change
 Make former, undesirable behaviors inaccessible or difficult to perform
 Measure employee performance weekly, monthly, and quarterly