3 reasons managers fail to get behind business critical strategy and transformation initiatives and what to do about them - learnings from the front-line.

There I was sitting on a plane, another overnight flight to another strategy launch day in another country. Up until this point everything had been going well but tonight, I was worried. I was responsible for the global roll out of new client engagement model that underpinned the implementation of a transformational business strategy.

Even though the strategy was strong, the communications smart, the expectations clear and the plan difficult to argue with, that is exactly what had happened – during the day's launch session some leaders and senior managers had argued with and objected strongly to the strategy and plan. The push back was emotionally charged and it was a genuine surprise to me that those responsible for leading this, a clearly important initiative, could object to it.

I experienced the similar problem, manifested in a different way, on another occasion when leading localised digital transformation activity. In this case, some of our senior business leaders delegated ownership of the implementation of the system improvements and new ways of working to junior managers deep within their teams. They avoided getting involved in the communication or management of the changes, supporting it only superficially which sent mixed messages to their teams. Whilst they didn't object to the changes, they didn't actively support them.

So why would some leaders and managers who I knew to be smart and committed, not get behind business critical strategic and transformation initiatives?

Was it because they didn’t care? Definitely not, they cared about their customers, their teams and the businesses performance - this wasn’t the reason.

Was it because they didn’t understand? In my experience more can usually be done to bring to life the changes expected, the implications and what the business will be like in the future. However, in both these cases this wasn’t the root cause of the problem.

Was it because they didn’t buy-in to the changes? I don't believe this was the case as there had been an opportunity for leaders to input into the direction and plans. Also, the organisational solutions being rolled out and the corresponding training and implementation support was thought by teams to be best in class.

From my experience working in consulting, managing teams and leading transformation, I believe there are three main reasons why some leaders and managers don’t get behind business critical initiatives in the way we would want them to.

1) Lack of bandwidth

We ask so much of our leaders and managers. Have you ever worked in a business where they’ve been asked to do less year on year? Often the pressure is unbearable. Asking them to take on another ‘business critical’ initiative can be just be too much - they don’t have the time to understand the changes, the implications or to manage the work that’s needed. However, positive the changes may end up being, managers often don’t see how their teams will be able to free up the time or headspace to take on something new.

2) Lack of experience

By definition when we are transforming businesses, it's unlikely that leaders and managers will have deep experience in the new ways of working or technologies that we are rolling out. If you've spent most of your career working one way, learning to work in a different way that requires new skills and systems is tough. It's even tougher to manage and support those more junior to you as they attempt to grasp the changes. So, it's not surprising that there is push back against proposals that take leaders and managers out of their comfort zones.

3) Fear

From the nagging angst that you could be doing something better, to the feeling you get when you know you are trying to get others to do something that you, personally, don't know how to do - for managers, fear of failure or embarrassment is completely understandable. Many worry about looking foolish in front of their teams, making bad decisions, giving bad advice or that their uncertainty will negatively impact the belief of their teams in the changes they are leading.

So, what do we need to do to address these three barriers?

1) Help our leaders and managers to prioritise where they focus, creating space to understand and manage the delivery of the strategic initiatives.

This means other activities or business initiatives need to stop or be given less focus. To quote Michael Porter – “the essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”

2) Support leaders and managers as they build the understanding and skills required to successfully lead the changes expected.

This requires us to understand what we really need our managers to know and do. For example, leaders may not need to use the software being rolled out, however, they do need to know what it does, have seen how it works and understand the user challenges. This means leaders will be able to talk authentically about benefits and ensure managers have the resources they need to drive adoption.

When we pilot the organisational solutions, in addition to fine tuning how they work, we should also use this as an opportunity to understand the barriers to adoption, the shift in behaviour required by both managers and teams, and any skills shortages.

Where skills or management training is required, this should take place separately from the teams, initially at least, as a safe space is important for managers to learn. Ongoing support can be provided in many ways, from within the business for example by buddying up managers with either a colleague at the same level or with a more junior mentor.

Communication channels should be provided that enable managers to connect with each other so they can share issues and learnings. These channels should also enable us to listen to their concerns as they are close to the issues - we should support them in addressing common challenges they or their teams are facing.

3) Ensure the required support is available to build new capabilities and embed new processes / ways of working / technology within teams.

We can’t just throw our big strategic challenges into the business and expect others to work out how to implement the proposed changes. Readiness assessments should be completed to understand how much work is required to successfully land the shifts expected and scope out the support needed. Support may come externally, from within teams or from a central team - collaboration across the business is essential and enables learnings and implementation tools to be leveraged. With all the options now available, mechanics to build understanding, capability and to embed behaviour can be targeted and creative - for example, using gamification on smartphone apps to establish new daily routines.

However, the answer can't always be more training and support - there isn't the time or money. We need to encourage leaders, managers and people in our teams to take ownership - to lead the change required and to tackle issues and skills shortfalls.

How do we do this? One solution is to leverage a People-Driven-Change approach. This involves the managed participation and engagement of individuals from all levels of the business in the design, piloting and roll out of strategic and transformation initiatives.

It ensures the development of ‘fit for purpose’ organisational solutions and implementation plans that leaders and teams trust. Carefully managed participation and engagement builds belief, advocacy and ownership within the teams and accelerates embedding of big strategic shifts. The result is that managers, teams and individuals are motivated to want to change and to want to work for change – they find solutions to the challenges relating to implementing new ways of working or systems and deliver improvements for …It ensures the development of ‘fit for purpose’ organisational solutions and implementation plans that leaders and teams trust. Participation and engagement in solution design, implementation planning and piloting builds belief, advocacy, ownership and energy within the teams and accelerates the adoption of new way of working. The result is that managers, teams and individuals are motivated to want to change, and to want to work for change. They proactively find solutions to challenges, take ownership of building skills and driving the changes.

Taking this different approach to design, planning and piloting brings people closer to the work - change isn't pushed on them, they input to and become part of the change effort. Carefully selected individuals from the relevant functions bring their expert knowledge and experience to the development process. Through their involvement, they become committed and involved - their visible advocacy and often participation in the roll out reassures others.

Engagement across the organisation takes many different forms - from briefing and Q&A sessions at team meetings, to targeted 1 to 1s and creative workshops. The theme that flows through all engagement is the honest communication of progress and desire to listen to feedback. Employees across the organisation increasingly feel part of the change activity - personally involved - this positively impacts their commitment to implementing the transformation or strategic initiatives.

Simply, by adopting a people-driven-change approach, leaders and managers who could potentially block progress become the empowered drivers of positive change.

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