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Combatting Unhealthy Workplaces with Change Management and Coaching

change management coaching well-being May 26, 2021

Key Takeaways:

  • While we know workplace well-being is important, employers and employees alike struggle to communicate effectively when seeking to address the problem.
  • Effective change management and targeted coaching can ensure transitions are less tumultuous while raising company morale and trust in leadership.
  • Not all managers are strong at coaching, so it is important to consider an outside professional to provide this type of support. You can read more on this topic from a recent article I published on LinkedIn.

The Challenges

Winston Churchill once said, “healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have.” If his statement were applied to the workplace, it would read: healthy employees are the greatest asset any organization can have.

While the definition of what it means to be “healthy” may vary, a more holistic list of components of employee health and well-being include having physical and mental health, strong social connections, financial security, a sense of purpose, and job satisfaction. 

Many corporate well-being programs have started to address these areas, offering a variety of interventions and resources to support the broadest population of employees. This has been no easy task considering the number of factors influencing individual well-being and the lack of data regarding what works best for who, in what context, and why.

Another challenge in right-sizing well-being at work is the disconnect between executives and employees, with employees ranking improvements in this area higher on the priority list than their executive counterparts. This is in large part due to leadership underestimating the impact of change on employees, which has been in no short supply thanks to the pandemic. Many employees (particularly Millennials and Gen Zs) are stressed out and turning to their employers – one of the most influential networks in their lives – for help.

The Solution

Change management is all about empowering people to successfully accept, adopt, and sustain change in the workplace. Change leaders understand that with the right knowledge, skills, motivation, and support, people can change behaviors and achieve the desired outcomes.

However, when employees have poor health and well-being or are frequently stressed out, their ability to accept change, be open to new ideas, and adopt alternate ways of working diminishes significantly.

Repeated stress can also interfere with rational thinking, judgement, and emotions. According to a study by McKinsey, 70 percent of change projects fail due to people’s mindsets and beliefs. Change programs that focus on changing mindsets are 4X more successful than the alternative. 

Think about some of the changes that you are responsible for at your organization. Have your colleagues welcomed the shift, or are you running into roadblocks? Often the barriers people put up have nothing to do with the change itself, but their perceived ability to take on another task - especially when they have their own priorities and stressors that affect their day to day.

Organizational changes can also lead to self-concern. People want to know how the change will impact their role and responsibilities and may fear a loss of control or status. This will show up as resistance and can make forward progress more difficult. If ignored, the fallout can be far reaching - productivity drops, resources are wasted, the benefits take longer to realize, employee engagement declines, and good people leave. 

Therefore, change leaders must leverage a diverse set of skills to enable change in high stress environments, such as ability to communicate clearly and effectively, and build trust as they go. This means valuing people’s expertise, letting go of the desire to control, and helping them develop greater levels of resilience by practicing coaching for success.

Coaching is a technique to help individuals bridge the gap between where they are now and where they want to be and coming up with a plan to make it happen. Coaches (or managers who practice coaching) offer unbiased support and understand how to help people deal with the discomfort that occurs when they move beyond their comfort zone to experience growth.

Unfortunately, managers are not often viewed as coaches or mentors. A lot of managers struggle to find a balance between micromanaging and giving too much autonomy when what their employees really need is direction. This dynamic is amplified during times of change and disruption, and it is easy to forget that the manager is experiencing the change too.    

While the desired outcome may differ, change management, coaching, and well-being programs ultimately share the same goal: behavior change. Change leaders, who play a key role in shaping the employee experience and ensuring the initiative delivers the desired results, must rethink their roles and responsibilities to ensure a holistic approach to change management.  

The shift in strategy, design, and delivery can range from subtle to sizeable. Examples include:

  • Incorporating well-being into the organization or stakeholder impact assessments
  • Coaching sponsors and leaders to emulate the desired behaviors – such as setting aside the last five minutes of every meeting for a movement or mental break
  • Giving workers more flexibility in terms of when, where, and how they get trained
  • Sharing resources and benefits with employees during awareness building efforts
  • Establishing peer-to-peer support groups led by change influencers and advocates
  • Prioritizing the rollout of certain changes to help reduce the level of stress on employees

Change leaders recognize that change is inevitable in organizations, and that well-being is an organizational responsibility and key driver of company performance. By integrating well-being knowledge, tools, and resources into the strategy, planning, and execution, companies can support employee health and create an environment where both people and profits can thrive. 

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