We spend a lot of time working with companies undergoing change. Business executives are making critical decisions based on disruption in a volatile market. During times of uncertainty, ensuring employees care about their work and feel they have a clear understanding of the changes at hand must be a top priority. Engaged employees are more productive and loyal to the organization—two key elements for any successful business. 

So how do you get your team to stay engaged and rally around necessary changes in your business? 

Have a clear message. 

As the saying goes, if you say 100 things, you say nothing. Pick one thing. Always connect it back to why this matters. Even if they are analytical and you think they want all the details, they don’t. They need the end goal. They need the reason for why, ultimately, this is important for them to prioritize. You don’t have to tell them everything to have transparency. Prepare your message and reiterate that end goal as often as possible to ensure everyone is clear about why this change is necessary and important. 

Start at the top. 

Change won’t happen if your top leaders and executives aren’t on the same page. When rolling out a company-wide change, you must first align your leadership team. Start from the top of the org chart and work your way down so that everyone is ready to hold each other accountable for the changes being made. 

Recruit people to help. 

You don’t always have to hire new people to execute change. Creating subcommittees within the organization is a great way to keep momentum and utilize employees that want to use their skills to impact the company.  Ask people to sign up and lead the change. Choose employees that care, want to grow, and have the capacity to contribute to the change being made. Creating subcommittees is a great way to gain buy-in and fresh perspectives as you seek to accomplish a new goal or initiative. 

Ask for feedback. 

You can’t evolve your business if you don’t check in to see how it’s resonating. You need to create a space where people can voice what worked and what didn’t in real-time. As leaders, you need to probe for specific and actionable assessments.  It’s not enough to tell your team what to do. Part of gaining buy-in is asking for their feedback. Once you launch a new change, make sure to ask those involved about how it went. You can do this through anonymous surveys, team huddles, or 1on1s. Choose the communication channel that feels most appropriate for the feedback you are asking for, and be open to hearing everyone’s comments before finding themes of what employees are saying.
NOTE: Workplace trust is a crucial part of getting honest feedback.

Whether it’s a new internal initiative or big change management, the right communication is key. If you are struggling with getting clear or gaining your team’s trust, let’s chat!