By involving a broader group of leaders in the process of crafting a change narrative, companies are essentially creating a “band and choir” that can communicate and amplify the change story at scale. The best change stories provide all workers with an understanding of how their work relates to the organization’s overall vision.Ī storyteller’s passion for and connection to the change story are essential to building momentum for a transformation. These workshops-and what happens outside of them to build on the momentum of the transformation-enable executives and managers to weigh in on critical implementation decisions, such as how goals and messages will be cascaded through the organization, timing, leadership roles, the cadence of meetings, accountability, and communication.Īccording to Harvard University Professor Howard Gardner, “Stories constitute the single most powerful weapon in a leader’s arsenal.” Stories take on added importance in a performance transformation, since they are a critical mechanism to inspire the workforce and create a shared sense of purpose. Leaders need to gain a detailed understanding of the priorities as well as the corresponding mind-set and behavioral shifts, since they will be responsible for role-modeling them. This collaboration can take place through multiple action-planning workshops, which introduce the enterprise-wide performance and health aspiration, identify critical behavior and mind-set shifts for each priority practice, and create action plans that include owners, next steps, and timelines. In developing an implementation plan, senior leadership must bring managers into the process. Leadership should facilitate an open discussion among executives on which priority practices-the six to ten management practices that matter most given the strategic context-can improve the organization’s performance and health. The CHRO noted, “Once we got the data, it was key for our leadership team to fully understand the results.” However, an assessment of organizational health provides senior management with a quantitative and qualitative fact based on how effectively an organization is functioning vis-à-vis its performance aspiration. Many organizations regularly measure performance. In our experience, companies can take three steps to align on priorities and translate them into a focused, coherent transformation plan and change story. Research from McKinsey found that senior leadership teams that align on their change story and share it with the organization can increase the odds of the transformation’s success six times over.īuild conviction around your organization’s transformation However, making the right choices can generate significant benefits.
Executives who select initiatives that aren’t well aligned with their aspiration could quickly see the transformation run aground. So how do you use these insights to mobilize the whole enterprise, from senior management to frontline employees? As the chief human resources officer (CHRO) of a leading heavy goods manufacturer summed it up: “How can we change how the organization does things, and how do we get the rest of the executive team to buy in?”īuilding consensus on priorities is critical to the success of a transformation. October 28, 2019Imagine your company has set an ambitious aspiration and conducted an assessment of the organization’s performance-what an enterprise does to deliver improved results for its stakeholders in financial and operational terms-and health-how effectively an organization works together in pursuit of its performance aspirations.
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