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To most employees – change is not a good thing. Yet in today’s business environment, change is one of the few constants that you can rely on – be it good or bad. It is important therefore that HR and senior management appreciates that staff members are often unnerved by any disruption to their normal way of doing things and factor in effective guidance and communication programmes to make sure everyone embraces change as quickly and efficiently as possible.“Both HR and management need to understand and be convinced of the need and rationale for change. Hence, openness and clear communication between both teams are important and the change must be visibly supported by both functions,” says Chua Song Khim, CEO of the National University Hospital. “Employees must be able to clearly understand how the change is going to affect them individually, what are the pros of change and how will staff be helped to adjust.” Chua believes in open and clear two-way communication with employees – with both HR and senior management present to clarify and assure. But he also adds that it is important for senior management to truly be convinced that HR is a key change agent.
Creeping change
Organisational drift is as hard to define as it is to arrest. However, HR experts agree generally that it is never a good thing; it can be a cancer to the company and usually involves falling off the rails and away from the organisation’s vision. “A boat that is drifting is not necessarily in immediate peril, but can run into stormy waters at anytime, because it has no ability to chart its course and react,” says Boyd Williams, DHL’s senior vice president of HR for the Express division in Asia-Pacific. “To me, organisational drift, in the context of change, is about moving away from the change that one wants to make. Systems drift, management drifts off course, and then so do the employees. Drift will be less likely to occur if senior management – including HR – leads the change, as we try to do at DHL. In this organisation, HR is the expert in planning and managing change.”
Williams says that HR being able to avoid drift, or at least see it coming, is indelibly linked with HR’s influence as a strategic business partner. “I participate as part of that senior management team, so HR can monitor change closely. It depends on the organisational culture. If HR is playing the role of strategic leader, then HR can lead change and planning.”
DHL underwent large-scale change when it acquired the Excel business in 2006. When this occurred, change was well-managed due to HR’s involvement in the communication and change planning process. The DHL vision was not allowed to drift off course. Similarly, the BHP-Billiton merger, which created a mining leviathan, is another good example of a major change event resulting in an improved business outcome. The companies involved stayed on message, hence, no drift. This is typical of all companies that successfully undergo large-scale change, says Williams.
He adds that it is HR’s responsibility to prove itself however. “HR must look at itself in the mirror, making sure that it has the business acumen that CEOs expect. I often hear the gripe from business leaders that HR doesn’t possess sufficient business acumen to plan and implement change and avoid drift. There are many people in HR that say they’re a business partner, but in reality they aren’t hitting that top level strategy. CEOs will only include HR in change planning when they trust their business acumen.”
Organisations need to pay close attention to drift, and its relationship with managed change and unmanaged (maybe even unexpected) change, agrees Chua, adding that handling change and avoiding drift is not a responsibility or job for HR alone. “(It’s) the responsibility of senior management to take ownership to manage change. The staff will use HR to facilitate and to directly communicate with the organisation, but will take its cues from senior management.”
Avoiding drift and seeing your people through change
Jenny Wong, executive vice president of group HR at UOB, has also experienced monumental change events. She affirms that it is vital to have HR’s ears to the ground to manage the organisation’s people through change. “In our case, in times of change, HR works very closely with the line, and we realise that when you’re talking about people it’s necessary to have a representative from HR that sits inside each business group.” Corporate alignment between HR and the business lines, explains Wong, comes only through HR working very closely with the many different business units. “When we experience change, we’ll consider both the individual’s position and the overall business interests. We represent the interests of the people, but we also need to be aligned to the corporate strategy.”
Playing the go-between joining various business units and staff can be an enormous challenge, especially in a large finance group like UOB. Ultimately, HR is the employee’s representative, but at the same time, it needs to explain and communicate the organisation’s decisions and strategy. “When we were dissolving a business unit, we worked with the relevant business functions to deliver communication to the employees. Then we thought about the individual’s interests,” adds Wong.
Change often leaves some stakeholders in a difficult position. A good HR team, however, will try to mitigate the difficulties that those people are suffering, “For example, we ask whether we can take the people into another business unit or help them look for opportunities in other sectors,” says Wong. If HR is represented at the senior level, then it can influence how change impacts the employees and avoid drift. If HR is not represented, then obviously making an impact on policy is difficult. “HR as a profession is generally still the last business function to recognise drift,” says Wong. “Say the organisation embarks on a strategy to make customer acquisition a priority. Then it is important that HR has a voice in this, in terms of learning and development and training. More importantly, we [HR] can point out when we’re slipping or drifting from this focus.”
There is, however, a role for everyone to provide feedback when the business is moving away from its strategic thrust. DHL’s Williams, who views his ‘business’ contribution to be as critical as his ‘HR’ function, says all stakeholders should be involved. “This is why HR needs the senior management to listen to it and when HR knows how to manage change, it will also know how to manage the fires associated with change.” On the back of these sentiments, one of the initiatives that Williams has just launched is a strategic business partner programme to provide the HR team with the principles of strategic HR management.
Final word
For change to be properly managed, employees must see that HR and management are sincere and honest in their dealings and communications. HR should show that staff views matter and are truly taken into consideration, adds Chua. “HR and management must visibly support and help employees to cope with change at the commencement, and provide avenues for feedback on the change.”
Managing organisational changing by managing people
Jenny Wong, UOB’s executive vice president of group HR, is one of the nation’s most senior HR professionals. She also understands a thing or two about managing major change events, staying on message, and avoiding the corporate cancer of organisational drift. UOB itself has seen enormous changes in recent times. On 2 January 2002, before Wong commenced, UOB merged with the Overseas Union Bank, the largest such event in Singaporean history. UOB’s bid for OUB of US$5.7billion beat that of DBS at US$5.2billion.
With an employment history steeped in the financial and service sectors, Wong has witnessed the effects of mergers & acquisitions (M&As), which are often considered ruthless from employees’ perspectives. “There are a number of employee-related factors that are beyond everyone’s control in M&As, but one thing that HR can control is that the organisation is ‘fair’ to the employees, whether they be victims of the M&A or remain with the new entity. Fairness is good for the employee and enhances the organisation’s reputation.”
Wong’s advice is wonderfully simple. “Use lots of communication, stay in touch with the ground, and always continue to assure staff. Staff deserve to be heard, especially in times of stressful change – this will go some way towards maintaining motivation.” At the same time, she tips, “quash rumours, particularly those that are destructive and untrue. Rumours erode staff confidence. If rumours are true, HR should acknowledge them as rumours but also reassure staff.”
Change is rarely welcomed by everybody, and there is always concern, usually amongst staff. In order to avoid drift, it is essential to maintain morale and that is where the HR function has the opportunity to shine. “I’d say dealing with the people issues sensitively is at the core of HR’s function during times of change. We have to always be mindful that these are people, and there’s concern over their rice bowls. Act sincerely – remember that this also helps protect reputation. The change might be beyond the control of the company, but even so, staff need to feel that the organisation is being fair,” says Wong.