With more and more companies (actually) returning to the office this fall, many in leadership are having to face up to a difficult reality: employees largely do not want to go back. The push to return to the office seems to be coming from those in leadership across all industries. So how do these competing wishes stay balanced? What does leadership do when employees are pushing back against change? Kellogg’s own David Schonthal and Loran Nordgren have identified four “frictions” that companies can come up against when attempting to implement change.
The first step in this process (as in many processes) is acknowledging that people do not generally like change or appreciate being told what to do. Seems simple enough, right? Often recognizing these feelings is enough to open minds to changes. Second, is to seed ideas early and often. Mentioning that changes are coming down the pipeline long before they are actually implemented can help soften the blow. Third, involve employees in the process of designing change - but to a point. Too many ideas will be detrimental and time consuming. Working collaboratively, however, allows everyone to have a stake in the company wide change. And lastly, they pose the idea of framing changes as an experiment. Flexibility to keep what is working and lose what is not goes a long way in making people feel comfortable with changes.
While Mr. Schonthal and Mr. Nordgren post these tactics as relating to an office environment, they are easily applied in any walk of life. If your employees are returning to office work this fall take a minute to give this an in-depth read. You’ll be glad you did.