Change Management isn’t just for big corporations with big budgets
Let’s bust a myth: Change management isn’t exclusively for the giant corporations with endless budgets.
Change management can be your secret weapon if you’re running a family-owned business or scaling a growing mid-sized company. It helps smooth operations, keeps your team motivated and engaged, and keeps technology upgrades and changes running without impacting daily operations.
Here’s the kicker: People must be part of this transformation journey; without people, you don’t have a business! They need to know what’s in it for them. And yes, even if there isn’t a massive surplus of funds to throw at it, you can still access valuable change support.
Change Management ensures that every change in your business is understood and adopted with minimal disruption to operations, increasing efficiencies and the bottom line.
Let’s look at a real example of how incorporating change practices made a difference to Birdsnest. Have you heard of them? They’re an Aussie online fashion retailer from Cooma, NSW, who hit their stride as e-commerce boomed. Initially, they hit a wall when trying to scale and expand their production lines with inventory management and operational issues. Sound familiar?
The Birdsnest management team quickly realised that doing the same thing would not work and needed to approach their challenges differently.
With the support of solid change management, they were able to focus on:
Customer First: Yep, they tuned in closely to what their customers wanted and delivered.
Operational Overhaul: Birdsnest revamped its inventory system, aligning its stock with keeping customers happy.
Team Power: They focused on making their workplace culture vibrant and inclusive, ensuring everyone was on board for the journey.
Tech and Trendsetting: Their digital space became more user-friendly, reaching people entirely new ways.
Learning and Adapting: They kept climbing higher by constantly learning and tweaking.
By investing in change practices and having transparent engagement, implementation, adoption, and support plans, Birdsnest could overcome its challenges and grow significantly.
It is one of many examples of how even smaller businesses can benefit from structured change management to adapt to market demands and improve operational efficiency—investing in their innovative practices and customer-centric strategies. Birdsnest surged ahead, proving that small businesses can master the change management game.
The risk of poorly managed change
Countless studies have shown that approximately 70% of change initiatives crash and burn. It is scary to think of the investment of money and time and the individuals who devote themselves to this work. So why do they fail?
The number one call out is the need for change management for many reasons. When change doesn’t go well and is mismanaged and done to people, the company’s reputation suffers, retention issues occur, and business performance takes a hit. Employees become resistant and stressed.
They worry and question their role, purpose, and value. It doesn’t have to be like this; investing in the proper support for change can help you avoid becoming another percentage of that statistic.
Working with a Limited Budget? What SHOULD YOU focus on?
1. Cost Savings
Consider a small tech startup that launched a new product. By implementing a customised change strategy, they could identify potential issues that could derail progress if overlooked, prevent costly rework, and streamline product delivery. Effective change strategies reduce project delays and improve employee productivity, resulting in cost savings at every stage.
2. Scalable Solutions for Any Budget
Change management is like a tailored suit. You don’t need accessories for it to fit well. We work with you to ensure the solution fits your needs, allowing you to choose what ‘accessories’ you want to invest in. A retail shop, for instance, might start with change management focused on customer service improvements, gradually scaling as success builds.
3. Measuring the return on investment
Change management is an investment in your business’s future. A nonprofit organisation, for instance, used change management structures and processes to streamline its operations, which led to increased donations and volunteer engagement. Highlighting past success stories demonstrates potential returns.
4. Empower Your Team
You can provide your team with the right tools and training. Just as a chef needs quality ingredients and a good recipe, your staff can flourish with the proper guidance and support. Affordable workshops, change training and templates crafted for your business can significantly improve confidence and enable your team to manage change effectively without expanding your workforce.
5. Leverage technology
Automation can significantly reduce time and costs, but managing the transition carefully and addressing employee concerns is crucial.
We worked with a small marketing agency to move from manual tracking of their work to a digital project management tool. This change saved them hours of manual labour and improved outcomes and task monitoring.
Some simple adjustments in how you do things can have huge gains and a considerable impact. Approaching transitions like this with a clear plan can mean the difference between your team’s successful adoption and failure.
Technology and different ways of working can sometimes bring feelings of fear of the unknown.
Some of the feedback we heard across the teams:
- Is my job at risk?
- Do they need me here?
- I need to be more confident using different programs
- I only know how to use the old ways
Working with the agency to develop a change plan that included fit-for-purpose approaches to these concerns, including specific training, support, and open communication channels, helped employees understand the technology’s benefits, alleviated fears, and ensured everyone was equipped and confident in their new roles.
Leveraging technology became a smoother, less stressful process that aligned with their business goals.
For more on Embracing AI in the workplace, check out our article https://www.enablechangepartners.com.au/articles/embracing-ai-in-the-workplace
The risk of poorly managed change
Countless studies have shown that approximately 70% of change initiatives crash and burn. It is scary to think of the investment of money and time and the individuals who devote themselves to this work. So why do they fail?
The number one call out is the need for change management for many reasons. When change doesn’t go well and is mismanaged and done to people, the company’s reputation suffers, retention issues occur, and business performance takes a hit. Employees become resistant and stressed.
They worry and question their role, purpose, and value. It doesn’t have to be like this; investing in the proper support for change can help you avoid becoming another percentage of that statistic.
Working with a Limited Budget? What SHOULD YOU focus on?
1. Cost Savings
Consider a small tech startup that launched a new product. By implementing a customised change strategy, they could identify potential issues that could derail progress if overlooked, prevent costly rework, and streamline product delivery. Effective change strategies reduce project delays and improve employee productivity, resulting in cost savings at every stage.
2. Scalable Solutions for Any Budget
Change management is like a tailored suit. You don’t need accessories for it to fit well. We work with you to ensure the solution fits your needs, allowing you to choose what ‘accessories’ you want to invest in. A retail shop, for instance, might start with change management focused on customer service improvements, gradually scaling as success builds.
3. Measuring the return on investment
Change management is an investment in your business’s future. A nonprofit organisation, for instance, used change management structures and processes to streamline its operations, which led to increased donations and volunteer engagement. Highlighting past success stories demonstrates potential returns.
4. Empower Your Team
You can provide your team with the right tools and training. Just as a chef needs quality ingredients and a good recipe, your staff can flourish with the proper guidance and support. Affordable workshops, change training and templates crafted for your business can significantly improve confidence and enable your team to manage change effectively without expanding your workforce.
5. Leverage technology
Automation can significantly reduce time and costs, but managing the transition carefully and addressing employee concerns is crucial.
We worked with a small marketing agency to move from manual tracking of their work to a digital project management tool. This change saved them hours of manual labour and improved outcomes and task monitoring.
Some simple adjustments in how you do things can have huge gains and a considerable impact. Approaching transitions like this with a clear plan can mean the difference between your team’s successful adoption and failure.
Technology and different ways of working can sometimes bring feelings of fear of the unknown.
Some of the feedback we heard across the teams:
Is my job at risk?
Do they need me here?
I need to be more confident using different programs
I only know how to use the old ways
Working with the agency to develop a change plan that included fit-for-purpose approaches to these concerns, including specific training, support, and open communication channels, helped employees understand the technology’s benefits, alleviated fears, and ensured everyone was equipped and confident in their new roles.
Leveraging technology became a smoother, less stressful process that aligned with their business goals.
For more on Embracing AI in the workplace, check out our article https://www.enablechangepartners.com.au/articles/embracing-ai-in-the-workplace
6. Start small, dream big
A phased approach can remove the intimidation factor. Take the marketing agency: Instead of moving everyone to the new programme management tool on the same day, phase the implementation. Start with a few people—in this case, we asked for volunteers.
Once they are confident, they will gradually move the rest of the team over. They then have peers around them who have been using the tool longer and are more confident they can support them during their transition.
They turned limited resources into a strength, using innovative strategies to bring everyone along on the journey
7. Embrace Partnerships
Please think of us as an extension of your team or the family you get to choose.
By fostering collaboration, we embed ourselves into your team, working alongside your existing staff. We help your people become self-sufficient in change management, building their confidence and toolkit, doing ourselves out of a job, and saving you long-term.
We upskill and educate through every engagement. We can achieve more by identifying risks early, analysing the impacts we can get in front of the unknowns, and being proactive rather than reactive.
8. Begin with a conversation
Why not chat with us at Enable Change Partners about what’s ahead for you and your challenges?
We think creatively and consider what we can achieve beyond limitations and constraints. We can work together to find the right mix of support tailored to your business needs.
It doesn’t cost anything to chat, let’s discuss the possibilities to see how we can partner with you to help your business adapt and thrive in times of change.
