The thought of change in an organization excites me. Making change happen is no small feat- especially when you’re talking organization-wide. Some areas of change where I see infinite possibilities are in the area of Customer Experience, Employee Experience, and DEI.
The thought of making something better, faster, smoother, more collegial, excites me. I love change, I embrace it for all of its possibilities.
When I first started at my organization, we were in the middle of implementing and launching a new CRM (Customer Relationship Manager system). We were taking something that had been around for eons and replacing it with something new. When I look back at the scope and scale of that project and the many people working to institute it and make it happen, I’m in awe. Especially given the amount of push back from the users about having to learn a new system.
Two years ago we engaged Gallup and conducted an Employee Engagement Survey. Again, there were moans and groans in response to the request to answer twelve questions that would take all of three minutes. The results returned, there were discussions, and then poof! Nothing happened. I was so curious about the survey, the questions that were asked, what they meant, what could be done if acted upon, what a follow-up survey would reveal, what it meant for me as a manager, how I could use the survey as a way to improve and better engage my employees. I was so excited to see what would come of it. But nothing did. I was told that our senior leader didn’t buy into it and had other priorities.
That experience was a terrific example of the importance of getting buy-in from the beginning. But it also left me wondering if there is a way to create change at the lowest level and push it towards the top? As I’ve read about Appreciative Inquiry, I’m energized to think that something like that can exist, that the change can be made within a small cohort and then radiate out to the larger organization.
I have many interests two of which reading and doing jigsaw puzzles. When I was in high school in Minneapolis, MN, we read a book called A Choice of Weapons written by Gordon Parks. In it, he wrote that he finds inspiration by trying something new each day in order to expand his horizons. He said it could be as small as walking down a new street or trying new food. That simple act can open you up to new experiences, new ways of doing things, a new way to see the world and the way in which you fit in. Broadening horizons and expanding thought is what I think of when I think of Organization Development and Change- the power behind trying something new and the impact that can have on a group of people who make up an organization.
I’m drawn to jigsaw puzzles by my desire to find a way to get all of those individual pieces together in a way that creates a whole. Each puzzle is a new idea, a new goal. Although each one is different in the appearance of its outcome, each is handled in a similar way. There is a set of steps that must be followed in order to complete it. The system is the same each time.
When I think of organization change, I am excited by the idea that a number of people will come together, like the pieces of the puzzle, to create a new outcome. That they will be enhanced by the process and view the world, their organization, their colleagues in a different way. If it’s successful it will be life-altering.
Hi Sara! I really enjoyed reading your blog post. When you said in your blog about your company’s experience with Employee Engagement Surveys, I could really relate to it, specifically the part about “The results returned, there were discussions, and then poof! Nothing happened”. This tends to be the cycle at the health system I work for. Of course, the Employee Engagement Survey is happening again this September! Unfortunately, I have become skeptical that any positive changes will come from it, and I know that is a terrible attitude to have! I am hoping that by being in this program I can truly learn how to help organizations follow up with initiatives and grow as a workplace.
Thanks! I’m still a sucker for Employee Engagement Surveys- I think they have a lot of possibilities. Do you know the vendor that’s running your’s or is it being done in house?