The Elements of Change: “People Don’t Get Paid to Change”

One of the most profound insights I’ve heard over the years regarding business transformation was from the CEO of a large industrial conglomerate undergoing significant change.    In a reply to a comment by the CHRO who stated unequivocally that people hate change, he uttered this phrase – “people don’t get to paid to change.”

His point was that organizations hire talent to perform pre-determined tasks and routines and reward people for doing just that.  Change is about adding new responsibilities of thinking and action to an already full plate of work.  It is often presented as a series of improved outcomes but often it’s never quantified nor followed through.  Change becomes a campaign rather than a journey to better results. 

One of the biggest myths in corporate change is that it fails because employees fear and avoid change.  The actual reasons differ and include:

Failure to Convince

Beyond presentations and slogans, change must provide the rationale and approach for people to embrace, engage, educate, and participate in the process.

Not Important

Approximately 4-6 months following a transformation initiative, the energy and promise of the effort begins to dissipate.  And employees sense it.  Leadership moves on to other things and communications become scattered.  People recognize this routine and lay back rather than committing to something without import.

No Infrastructure

Change must be met with a process or system of actual shifts in attitude, behavior, and action.  This is not the McKinsey or BCG model of task forces, PowerPoints, and a confusing labyrinth of decision-making and report.  It’s about conditioning behavior through strategic communications, training, new job requirements, different metrics, and the like.   

No Real Change

The entire effort is not designed for success.  It is an exercise if nothing else.  People need to see and feel progress to stay committed.  Without it there is no efficacy to the effort.

Program vs. Protocol    

Change management impacts the entire enterprise.  Leadership vision. Management direction.  Business results.  Communications.  Talent and resource deployment. Culture.  Confidence.  It needs to become an organizational priority and operating standard.  If not, it will be viewed as a campaign complete with tag lines, coffee mugs, and paperweights.

Moving forward, what can leaders do to overcome the fact that “people don’t get paid to change?”

Management Requirements

Change demands managers rethink and reset their approach to operating the business.  Key among them include soliciting ideas and listening to concerns and interests.   Instituting new measures to track progress.  Promoting collaboration and sharing information to elevate learning.

 Hiring practices

 Talent acquisition is the most important priority of any company today.  Bringing in the skills and mindset of people willing to consistently improve and pivot to address shifting market demands protects the future of the organization.

 Incentives

 Change is often treated as a consequence.  The business or the individual did something wrong.  The truth is that change is an everyday necessity and people respond to recognition and rewards to legitimize behavior.

 Revised Position Objectives

 The most shared feedback received from employees regarding change is that their actual job doesn’t really change.  One of the initial acts of leadership in a transformation is to revise job descriptions, budgets, resource allocation, and priorities to demonstrate the seriousness of the change.  

 Communications

 For communications professionals, conditioning the organization for change requires a completely new approach, framework, model, and content protocol.  It starts with letting the marketplace inside and shaping understanding on consumer and customer behavior, competitor moves and upgrades and establishing that progress waits for no one to the workforce.

Sans Consulting Approach

 If possible and courageous, downplaying a management consulting firm’s role in the transformation program actually raises employee interest and involvement.   The entire transformation initiative must be owned by leadership. Therefore, outside firms need to remain in the background.   

Peeling back the reason(s) for why business transformation fails so much in business today is a challenging and typically arduous task.

 Realizing that employees are the true measure of business change success points leadership in the right direction.  While “people don’t get paid to change” as one CEO offered, people are rewarded for doing so in terms of confidence, sustainability, value, and purpose.

 Gary