Since I began this video series back in June, I have been emphasizing that successful change involves building up employees who may be anxious or concerned about what the changes will bring, and I’ve given you several ideas already on how to manage this. Last week I gave you change management strategy #10 – Let people vent. Here’s another tip to help you build your people up when they might be feeling down: emphasize individual strengths.
Emphasize individual strengths
Boost your employees by highlighting what each of them are good at. Remember, change creates anxiety. You staff are wondering about things like – will I have to learn new stuff, will this affect my workload, will I now report to someone else, will I still have a job? – and all of these cause apprehension and worry. So take the time to boost their self-esteem, to make them feel good about what they’re doing on the job.
Build up their self-esteem
Reinforce what your employee does well and has previously done well on the job. Make it a point to express and appreciate capabilities and contributions. Emphasize how these strengths will help in the adjustment to the new responsibilities. Let your employee know that they are valued by you and by your organization. Motivated employees contribute to successful change; demotivated employees often sabotage a change management effort. Which one do you want?
So what are you doing to build up the self-esteem of your employees who are a key part of your change management initiative? Please share your specific ideas with us, so that we can all learn together. Please add your comments below.