Not everyone in your business will be excited about change. Sometimes it requires being proactive and putting in place some simple strategies that will make your employees and colleagues comfortable with the new changes.

You want to implement a new system that is going to completely revolutionise the way you do business. But, as with any new change, comes complications. A big one is bringing your staff along who are not yet ready to undertake the new challenges that any new software implementation requires.

What are common problems that arise with reluctance to change.

The reason you’re implementing these changes is that you want to see a shift in your business. Maybe you want to streamline data, or maybe you want to create more visibility over projects and reports. But more than likely, you want to see more profits and return on investment for the resources you’re allocating.

Employees who do not share this vision, will quite often erode any profits or productivity that can be achieved if they are resistant to change. They will quite often go against process and protocol and return to the old way of doing things, which ultimately makes implementation a nightmare.

So how do you bring employees along with you?

#1 – The big one, is to leave no employees behind. Your employees need to feel part of the process. They need to feel like they are a major stakeholder in the new implementation and that their ideas have been put into this process.

They need to feel like they are going to help create meaningful change. If they have skin in the game, then they have commitment to the process.

#2 – Every person in the change management process needs to feel like they have an understanding for when they are succeeding or failing. Employees who are positively working with the change should see rewards and recognition and vice versa for those who are lagging behind and hindering the process.

#3 – Managers and key decision makers need to demonstrate what the big picture is to employees. The more everyone understands as to how the change is going to make their lives easier as well as make the business more profitable and efficient, then they will feel like that they have a role to play in achieving the big picture goal.

#4 – Deal with the naysayers, quickly. With most implementations, we see there are generally a few hesitant individuals who liked the way things operated before. This is understandable, but continued resistance without any interjections from management can really de-rail and damage the progress of the change.

Organisations need to know when to say enough is enough. If you wait too long, employees can gain a powerful opportunity to create damage on your goals. This damage comes in the form of not following new process management protocols and persuading others to do the same.

It all lies in the communication of the vision

Inspire those around you by presenting a compelling vision and goal for the future. Remember, your employees might not have the same motivations and insider knowledge as you do. You need to communicate effectively what the big picture is and how this change is going to provide an even clearer path for them ahead.

They need to know what is in it for them. Why is this change important? And how is it going to positively affect the organisation and individual long-term.