The companies want things to change, but they have to work hard in this concern. How should companies go about change management?

Change management involves educating employees about how to tackle new problems by learning the evolved ways of doing work.

But changes cant be introduced so quickly in a company because of employee resistance. Hence implementing changes through a systematic approach is crucial, known as change management. It implements changes in a phased manner so that they leave a company with desired results. 

Why is change management necessary? 

For example, Change management is essential when a company is going through a merger.

The employees need to be acquainted with the other company’s new operating styles, skills, and management structure. If at this time, the employees are not made secure in their positions, they may leave the company. Employees must be convinced during mergers that their jobs are safe in a company to learn things efficiently.

Implementing changes generally causes problems because employees don’t react positively when their routines change due to changes. The employee attitudes are anticipated, and it’s the management’s job to appease them. The company must plan the employee training required to respond to the change. 

Training is a significant factor in reducing the stress involved in change management. The employees are the best sources of information about the needed training. Hence polls can be conducted, and employees can be asked about their knowledge of new processes. If they choose a particular process, they can be trained about it. Employees can also be given assessments to know whether they have sufficient knowledge about the new process. 

• How can interactive learning, e.g., simulations, help?

Hence they must be provided with simulation showing their new job roles. The management has to take care of the change management because otherwise, employees might not go through the long manuals containing the change rules of the company. But their knowledge retention is high when such new rules are explained to them through simulations. Hence due to simulations and branching scenarios, change management is easier for the organization because employees understand what is required of them and what can happen if they go wrong in terms of processes and behavior.

What are the other ways to handle change management besides interactive learning? 

The companies are keen on bringing a change but don’t know how to go about it. When such mergers happen, it’s time for the management to take the reins in its hand. It should conduct live events so that employees can ask questions from the new managers.

When a merger happens, a company moves in a new direction with another company, so the employees need some background information about the latter. There is a change in employees’ jobs, which creates a need for reskilling them. Therefore a webinar becomes essential to the company’s employees, informing them about the new branding. 

There are some employees who are not too happy with the merger. They need skills so that they don’t lose their jobs. Hence JIT resources are essential for them because they can help them keep up with the changing environment. They won’t feel helpless when they cannot figure out something and can’t ask someone for help because of the lack of time. So, instead of delivering wrong results, such employees can consult JIT resources on time. 

Such employees can learn about the new processes through podcasts and video tutorials as JIT resources. 

• The most important of them all, an LMS

Such resources must be incorporated in the LMS, which the company has implemented. An LMS is the best way to introduce change management in a company. It ensures that employees are empowered without any human intervention. Once they access the LMS, assessments can be sent on time, and once they pass, they are issued certificates automatically.

When an employee gets his certification, the management is also kept in the loop; hence, it knows that the employee is prepared to embrace the change. 

Workforce development is in contrast to online training because the latter ends once the employees have gained expertise in a specific skill set

Employees must understand that workforce development will help them grow in the company because their productivity will increase. But job training focuses on the employee’s needs, for example, when he has newly joined the firm.

The LMS can provide employees with all the resources from the internet and those created by senior employees required for workforce development.

Hence, why is workforce development needed in case of mergers instead of firing employees who lack the new skills? 

Job training is essential when employees have newly joined a company, but workforce development happens regularly based on their career preferences. Workforce development is critical for an organization in case of mergers because sometimes a company does not need some employees as their skills have become redundant.

The company must realize that it should not fire such employees because of their loyalty, and it must reskill or retrain them; hence, workforce development is needed. It can’t fire employees who lack technical skills because of their other talents. Hence reskilling them creates multifaceted employees more suited to handle the ever-adapting job profiles. Moreover, companies can’t ignore the demand for reskilling when technology has become an essential resource at work.

In the end:

A company might hire a technically adept employee to replace someone, but there is no guarantee that the former might not try to switch jobs soon to find a higher-paying job.