The leadership of organisational transformations in a post-pandemic world

By Professor Julie Hodges - July 2023

In a world of increasing volatility, complexity and chaos driven by forces such as economic and environmental instability, geo-political conflict, and technological advancements, organisations are under pressure to swiftly transform their businesses in order to not only keep pace, but to survive and to thrive. However, the nature of how those organisational changes are decided, disseminated and implemented is undergoing something of an evolution, and managers who remain inflexible to the changing nature of what constitutes the successful leadership of organisational change will quickly find themselves left behind. 

The traditional approaches of process-driven, top-down change are being transformed to ensure that stakeholders internal and external to the organisation are fully engaged, so that new practices and procedures can be identified and sustained by and with people. This people-focused approach is crucial. While leadership envisions what an organisation aspires to become and seeks to drive change, the success of these efforts is largely contingent on the support and engagement of the organisation’s stakeholders. As such, it’s vital for leaders to get their people on board and gain their commitment to their organisational change from the outset. 

This shift to a more people-centric approach also requires leaders to navigate a brave new world of business transformation, moving away from the classic but increasingly ineffective linear models of change. Doggedly sticking to a predetermined path for organisational change might well once have been successful in more stable environments, but such methods are ineffective at addressing the exponential increase in organisational complexity and chaos we’re now facing.  

Instead, as uncertainty continues, the requirement for leaders to actively engage their employees in decisions on changes to the workplace and to their work is essential. Managers need to regularly interact with teams to engage them in decisions, not only on what needs to change, but how these changes can happen. This needs to occur at an individual and a team level. Managers must take the time to ask employees about their work – what’s going well and what needs to be done differently – exploring if there are things they could stop doing and considering what that will mean, as well as enabling employees to challenge what their managers do and why they do it. These are often not easy conversations to have.  

To conduct such discussions effectively, managers need to create spaces for dialogue where employees can feel confident in voicing their issues and concerns and sharing their ideas and hopes. There must be no fear of rebuttal or judgement and, most importantly, employees must feel they’re being listened to. As remote working continues to be a staple of modern industry, there’s a danger that workforces might lose the art of informal conversations and begin to rely more and more on formal video conferencing to get work done. To avoid this, managers must take an active role in creating the time and space for meaningful conversations. It’s these exchanges that will lead to, and foster, engagement, and motivation with change amongst employees, and help to create an environment for authentic discussions about the why, how, what and when of change. There’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach here. Small meetings – formal and informal – or drop-in sessions (even over Zoom) might be the best approach to providing space for people to share ideas, ask questions, be listened to, and to get answers.  

Managers need to take time to listen and feed back to employees on the contributions they make; for example, “You said..., We did...”, or engaging them on helping to create the change they asked for so that they feel a sense of ownership and responsibility in ensuring its success. In instances where it’s not possible to take action based on employees’ views and ideas, managers should take the time to explain the reasons why it’s not possible. It’s also key that employees are made aware of what won’t be changing, which is often missed from discussions and communications about change. Being clear on what will stay the same can help to reduce individual levels of anxiety and stress. 

In this era of the acceleration of change individuals and teams are going through incredible transformations, not only in how they work, but also in their personal lives, which managers must be mindful of – especially with the move to hybrid and remote working which is eroding the boundaries between work and home lives. Such transformations have the potential, especially when imposed on people, to create an enormous amount of pressure and stress that can impact on employee motivation and their overall wellbeing. 

With individuals facing so much change, managers shouldn’t assume that employees will view the need for change in the same way that they do, as the knowledge and experience of frontline staff may mean they hold very different perspectives and ideas about what needs to change and how. They must be given the opportunity to share these views in conversations, reach mutual understanding and receive any additional support they might need. Acting in this manner can help to ease the concerns felt by employees, ensure a smoother transition as planned organisational changes are implemented and even help to gain greater commitment from people. 

As for managers who prefer to play by the old rules? Well, it’s likely they’ll find their options and successes ever more limited in the months and years ahead. These past few years have been, and continue to be, a challenging time for everyone, which requires every person within an organisation to adapt their thinking and their actions. Before asking people to make significant shifts in the way they work, managers must first consider how they can effectively engage people in change rather than imposing it on them.