Making Change Stick

Change is ubiquitous in today’s business landscape – so why is it so rarely successful and what’s the role of its unsung champions: middle management?

Corporations, especially those that operate globally, have begun to settle into today’s permacrisis market environments. As the Harvard Business Review (1) reports, virtually all major corporations have undertaken one or more transformation projects in recent years. And still, staggeringly, a study of over 300 large corporations revealed that only 12% of these projects met or exceeded expectations. The vast majority accept unsatisfactory results, and some fail outright. So why is something that’s done so regularly so rarely successful?

The answer is likely as complex as the projects themselves. And yet, one factor remains across all geographies and company demographics: Change is a people’s business, and successful initiatives require buy-in at all levels. While top leadership sets the vision, it’s middle management that translates it into action: They are the bridge between C-Suite, headquarters, and senior executives to the ground troops. It’s on them to make change understandable and motivate teams to embrace it.

Between a rock and a hard place: The middle management conundrum

However, middle management is caught in a bind: They are expected to act as motivators, leaders, and multipliers – but are also affected by the change themselves. This dichotomy frequently leads middle management feeling uncertainty about their own roles and future in the organisation and an inability to confidently answer their employees’ questions.

This is where effective stakeholder management becomes critical. It recognises the complexities of the dual role and tailors engagement accordingly. It provides targeted trainings, opens channels for dialog, and utilises personal relationships on a one-on-one level.

From inertia to action: Effective engagement in practice

Such measures specifically engage middle management on a macro and micro level. For broad alignment, corporations for instance deploy a series of workshops headed by senior leaders and change facilitators. Objectives can be designed iteratively, ranging from open sessions to voice concerns and ask questions to working groups that focus on co-creating solutions. This builds ownership and fosters a sense of agency in driving change, while providing valuable insights for the company’s engagement of personnel on the ground.

At the same time, individual relationships matter – and can be leveraged by senior leadership to gain support. Active listening and personalised communication build and maintain trust and allow for continuous engagement, and opportunities for incentivisation can provide additional motivation.

By synergistically combining both approaches, middle management can become a powerful driver of transformation, as Michael Kattau, Head of Mobility Communications at Robert Bosch GmbH well knows. In a recent transformation project in their mobility sector, Bosch provided extensive toolboxes to middle management on the ground, and ambassador programs, while encouraging senior leadership to regularly seek opportunities for open dialog. “By targeting middle management specifically, we were able to effectively mitigate uncertainty and make the change much smoother”, Kattau reports.

Strategic communications guide engagement

In the navigation of complex requirements, a strong and well-aligned internal communications department can act as the central nervous system of change initiatives. By positioning the department at the interface between HR, change management, and C-Suite, it can be used as an effective strategic management tool: It steers the process, as it ensures consistent messaging, iterable concepts, and continuous implementation across the organisation.

H/Advisors

H/Advisors is global organisation of strategic communications advisors dedicated to building, enhancing, and protecting clients’ reputations while helping them achieve their business objectives.

The H/Advisors global Transformation Practice has extensive experience in bridging the gap between change management and strategic communications. We help organisations navigate the complexities of change by building the foundations of your communications architecture and support the planning and implementation of transformation projects. Our experts develop tailored solutions on a global scale to make your change part of the 12%.

[1] Transformations That Work (hbr.org)

Written by our colleagues at H/Advisors Deekeling Arndt:
Natascha Kunath, Managing Director
Bernhard Luedicke, Consultant