Top-down change =
bottom-up resistance

Radical collaboration

A top-down approach isn’t going to generate the engagement and alignment needed for successful transformation. 28% of employees say it only makes for anger, anxiety and resistance, while it’s also been found to reduce workforce understanding of the change by 40%.

For leaders to truly create effective change they must embrace diverse perspectives to not only plan and design the change, but should also collaborate with their workforce throughout the process to create the most successful implementation.

This type of radical collaboration generates rich information that will support decisions on the change. It also creates a cohort of people who can articulate the change to others, feel invested, listened to and who can feed back insights and challenges as the programme progresses. Leaders then create an environment where barriers to change are quickly identified, solutions are actioned, and the initiative can meet its targets. Only through facilitating this collaboration can leaders generate buy-in from their people – positioning them as active implementers of the change as opposed to a passive third-party.

Duke University psychologist Jack Soll found that when dealing with complex issues, a diverse input increased the accuracy and success of the outcome by 15% above what the smartest individual achieved.

This group wisdom however is not enough. Constructive dissent, or radical collaboration, is critical to ensure the fullest and best inputs to resolve the complexities of a major transformation project.

“The best ideas often come from the people closest to the work.”

- David Marquet

Asking for feedback sends a clear message

Despite the fact employee voice is invaluable to the successful implementation of transformation programmes, only 26% of businesses reported involving employees in this way.

Similarly, just 32% said they utilise employee pulse surveys to acquire feedback. In failing to implement these practices, leaders are missing key opportunities to gather real-time data and insights from their workforce that would help them identify any blockers, make necessary refinements and ensure the initiative remains on-track. After all, only through listening to people and their experience of change will leaders be able to influence its overall success.

And yet, Capterra research found that nearly 1 in 3 employees say their employer has rarely or never asked for feedback or input on changes – suggesting many leaders don't recognise the value of collaborating with their workforce. If collaboration is weak, employees become disengaged, issues remain unresolved and transformation efforts fail.

Imagine you were in a meeting about something that affected you, and nobody asked for your opinion or listened to what you had to say – wouldn’t you lose interest and stop sharing ideas? It makes undeniable business sense to empower employees as partners of change and involve them in key decision-making processes – especially as change success then increases by 24%.

Employee engagement increases the likelihood of successful change by

Change champions are drivers of success

Only 29% of those we surveyed say their organisation puts change champions/ambassadors in place when implementing transformation projects.

This is a role within change programmes that’s proven to increase the likelihood of success, and yet more than two in three businesses aren’t employing their people in this way. Have they instead opted to hold one meeting with a handful of employees and considered the collaboration box to be ticked?

That would explain why Gartner found a substantial disparity between the percentage of leaders who believe they’ve involved their people in creating a change strategy and the number of employees who agree.

Giving employees an active voice and role to play within a change programme can be the difference between them becoming drivers of its success or spectators to its failure.

How involved are employees in the change strategy?

Key takeaways

Resist the temptation of taking a top-down approach - it won't work!
Engage employees at all stages and intentionally seek out diverse and challenging perspectives
Set your change up for success by ensuring clear change leadership and resources