Leadership to guide employees through change in manufacturing

If an organization wants to change successfully, it needs the support of employees. It’s up to the company’s leaders to win that support. Nuthawut Somsuk/iStock/Getty Images Plus

With great change comes turmoil.

We live in an unprecedented era of change. We are dealing with changes in how we work, the technologies we work with, social conventions, government, and transportation. It can be overwhelming for many of us.

Some are better able to manage and adapt to change, despite their concerns. Some feel consumed by a changing world.

If you follow the news, many are lashing out, sometimes destructively, at those they see as agents of change. Those encouraging change often fail to explain the change itself, along with the benefits and risks. Often, people get caught up in their emotions and fail to discuss objectively the value and consequences of change and of avoiding change. All of us must do better.

Look at the world of smart manufacturing (SM). For several years, presenters on the subject talked about big data, data analysts, and artificial intelligence. Few of these dog-and-pony shows offered any insight into real world performance or the impact of SM on manufacturing employees and production quality. These unintelligible presentations failed to make the goals and benefits of SM clear. Even worse, they failed to present the risks and how to manage them. We are learning, but still have a long way to go before we understand and realize the full benefits of SM.

Leading Through Change

As a manager, how do you turn anxious energy into something productive? It is possible, but it takes patience, empathy, and listening skills. Old command-and-control management is a lazy and ineffective attempt to force change.

In today’s complex organizations, hierarchy doesn’t ensure knowledge and experience. Expertise is more distributed across different job functions. As a result, compliance with a common goal is important, but unquestioning compliance with orders from above can prove demotivating and unproductive.

Consider what Dr. Abraham Gutsioglou wrote in his article, “Change Management and Transformational Leadership Synergy,” in Psychology Today in June 2017: “Change is significantly more successful when both human experience and technical tools (like change and project management) come together as one. The synergy is found when people leaders are coached and trained to apply transformational behaviors (such as inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individual consideration, and idealized influence) to transformational projects. Why does this work? Well, because doing so targets human intrinsic motivation, which serves to inspire people to be their best, it promotes feelings of being supported, and it recognizes individual contributions towards the transformation.”

Activities to Help Build Support for Change

After researching the topic of transitional leadership, I condensed effective leadership into the following list of tasks.

Listen. When employees feel their security and comfort are threatened, they have real concerns. Employees also have a right to your attention. A straightforward conversation supports your ability to understand of employee issues and insecurities, as well as their ability to know that you heard their concerns and take them seriously.

Active listening is a valuable tool for any manager. It’s actually a classroom technique that encourages listening and offering responses to build mutual understanding. Conversations need boundaries though. Productive talks demand you never talk over someone, unless to help them express a difficult point or clarify a topic.

Often, conversation becomes emotional. Emotions are perfectly acceptable unless they lead to abusive behavior or inappropriate comments. Participants should be encouraged to raise legitimate concerns in a calm and rational manner. Also, in an age of abundant misinformation (self-serving lies), you should write these down and deal with them in a calm and noninsulting manner.

Listening is the greatest tool you have to build common understanding and relieve employee anxieties.

Explain Benefits and Risks. More than anything, employees want the truth about proposed changes. Your integrity depends on it. You should discuss what the change is, the benefits of the change, how it may affect their work, the risks, and how employees can help you manage and implement the change. If you want support, it’s critical that you build their understanding, explain the challenges, and recruit them to help.

Of course, you’ll always have employees who resist any change; it’s just human nature for some. If you can build a core of influential supporters, it may lead to a groundswell of acceptance, at least.

Share Support and Training Plans. Changes that threaten to upset skills are frightening. Skills your employees spent years mastering might become obsolete. New skills might be necessary to operate new technologies or processes. Your employees first concerns are that their routines will be disrupted, new skills might be challenging to learn, and that their job security might be in jeopardy. Some employees are receptive to the challenge, but many are uncomfortable when you threaten a familiar routine.

If you are to gain support for your project, you need to return support to your employees. Have a training plan and let them see it. Beyond training, ensure employees that you will offer mentoring and continued training to help them master their new skills.

Manage With Character. Transitional management requires employee support. Your behavior over your career can be an asset or a liability. If you spent years being a jerk, getting support from your employees can prove nearly impossible. If you treated your employees with integrity and respect, support is nearly implicit.

Making Stars

Guiding people through change is incredibly challenging. There are many unknowns and insecurities to be managed. If you have a well-defined vision, are open with your people, listen to their concerns and inputs, and enlist their help, you will have a greater probability of success.

A Chilean friend, Nicole, reminded me of a saying in Spanish, Sin la oscuridad nunca veríamos las estrellas, which means “Without the darkness, you can’t see the stars.” Through all the uncertainties and insecurities, you can motivate your employees to bring their best to the table and truly shine.