In our ever-evolving, ever-changing modern world, so too are there constant and rapid shifts occurring in the workplace every day. Therefore, flexibility, resilience, and adaptability to change are vital skills to have in this day and age. As is being able to acquire transferable skills and competencies that translate to different job roles, as the workplace and its requirements evolve.
But what exactly is workforce change management? If you’re interested in learning more about this interesting concept, just keep reading.
How to Learn More About Workforce Change Management
There’s no doubt about it, workforce change management is a fascinating if obscure concept. Therefore, if you’re interested in learning more about workforce change management, the best way to do this is by undertaking tertiary studies. A Grad Cert in Change Management, for instance, will help you gain a much deeper understanding of this area.
During this type of degree, students cover units of study that include workforce transformation trends and strategy, workforce analytics, and other insights. Of course, the best thing about this type of degree is that it can be studied online. This means students can access study materials and resources whenever, however, and wherever they want. This in turn allows busy individuals to fit studying into their existing schedules – amongst personal, professional and other commitments. The online study method also allows for a better work/life balance. This is because online students are not required to meet compulsory on-campus attendance requirements or spend valuable time commuting to their tertiary institution to attend in-person lectures or tutorials.
What is Workforce Change Management?
The most important element of workforce change management lies in helping an organisation’s employees adapt to change. Of course, change, evolution and transformation can make many people feel uncomfortable. This is especially true for people who are set in their ways, or who are used to following processes that have been in place for a long time.
As such, a workforce change management professional is needed to guide these employees through the adaptation and transformation process, which they can achieve in many ways. First, the benefits of the organisational changes must be outlined to the employees in question. For example, the upcoming changes may result in better, more efficient and more streamlined processes and methods of executing deliverables. They may include time-saving methods of performance. Or even, they may make usually monotonous tasks less arduous. For many businesses, however, the most important aspect of change is the financial bottom line. Indeed, making processes more cost-effective is a huge benefit of transforming the existing way things are usually handled by a business.
So, what’s next? Once the benefits of the upcoming changes have been highlighted and outlined to the relevant staff members, the next step is to initiate the changes. This can be the hardest part, as many employees may be unwilling or even unable to change their ways. As such, sometimes difficult decisions need to be made by Human Resources in terms of instigating redundancies where they see fit. Often, forced redundancy is seen by a business as a way to refresh the workforce, and cut down on unnecessary resources.
After a change has been initiated, the next step is to manage and monitor its ongoing progress. Key areas to analyse include employee uptake, and how staff members are adapting to the changes overall. Once data on these areas has been collated, it is important to thoroughly assess and evaluate it to ascertain the success of the transformation process. This also allows workforce change managers the opportunity to iron out any kinks that may be occurring in the process early on.
Careers in WorkForce Change Management: What Are the Role’s Key Responsibilities?
One of the most important responsibilities of a workforce change manager is learning how to support their staff through the transformation and evolution of a business. Most importantly, the workforce change manager not only needs to support their staff, but they also need their staff to support them! Having a solid employee body who understand, accept and support organisational changes is key to this.
Of course, central to this aspect is ensuring that individuals who are adaptable, flexible and learn quickly are hired. Hiring the best staff can be difficult, but by engaging the services of a Human Resources team you can trust, you can build out your organisation with employees you can rely on.
With the workforce ever involving and transforming, workforce change management is becoming more and more important. Indeed, adaptability and flexibility are attributes that are becoming increasingly highly regarded by employers. Staff members who embrace change, are resilient and can update their procedures in line with organisational change can be commended.
As a workforce change manager, your role is to support this process and to make it as easy as possible for your staff. Most importantly, if an organisation’s employees work together as a team, workforce change processes can be made much easier to achieve overall.
