Are you managing change? a note of caution for those in the process of managing change and implementing new strategies or procedures … you may believe that the good stuff you think you are doing will be welcomed. However, your people (the profit generators and the customer loyalty generators) may not perceive it in the same way as you!
You can’t afford the risk of your people not seeing the changes that you are making as ‘improvements’.
Take this story for example …
Every day, a small army of ants arrived on site very early and started work immediately. They were very productive and always fully “engaged” as well as very happy. The Chief, a lion, was surprised to see the ants working so well without supervision.
He thought about this … if the ants can produce so much without supervision, surely they will produce even more if they had a supervisor!
So he recruited a cockroach that had extensive experience as a supervisor and was famous for writing excellent reports. The cockroach’s first decision was to set up a ‘clocking in’ attendance system. The cockroach also needed a secretary to help write and type reports, so it recruited a spider, who managed the archives and monitored all phone calls.
The lion was delighted with the cockroach’s reports and asked it to produce graphs to describe production rates and to analyse trends, so that he could use them for presentations at Board meetings.
So the cockroach had to buy a new computer and a laser printer and … recruited a fly to manage the IT department.
At this stage, the ants, who had once been so productive and relaxed, hated this new plethora of paperwork and meetings, which used up most of their time …!
The lion came to the conclusion that it was high time he nominated a person to be in charge of the department where the ants worked. The position was given to a cricket, whose first decision was to buy a carpet and an ergonomic chair for its office.
The new person in charge, the cricket, also needed a computer and a personal assistant, who it brought in from its previous department, to help prepare a Work and Budget Control Strategic Optimisation Plan.
The Department where the ants worked became a sad place, where nobody laughed anymore and everybody was upset. The cricket convinced the boss, the lion, of the absolute necessity to start a climatic study of the work environment
Having reviewed the costs for running the ants department, the lion found out that production was much less than before.
So he recruited the owl, a prestigious and renowned consultant, to carry out an audit and to suggest solutions. The owl spent three months in the department and came up with an enormous report, in several volumes, that concluded: “The department is over-staffed … cuts need to be made as a matter of urgency …”
Guess who the lion fired first?
The ants, of course, because “they showed lack of motivation and had negative attitudes towards the recent changes and improvements”!!
Having worked closely with thousands of teams, Sewells’ approach to developing the right attitude and motivating people to give their best day in, day out never fails … and our many clients agree. Here are just some of the recent successes we’ve helped our clients to achieve:
|
If you feel there are major leadership skill gaps in your organisation that need filling call us on 01244 681068 or contact us at tellmemore@sewells.com – everyone has amazing potential and we love unlocking it!
