Dramatic Change: Using Empathy to Focus on Business Results
Sometimes a business needs to change dramatically in order to stay in business, or take their business to the next level. Unfortunately, dramatic change can wreak havoc on company employees leaving them unable to meet the challenges these changes have brought about. Using empathy can ease the transitions and allow your employees to get back their equilibrium quicker. The quicker your employees are back on track, the quicker the changes can become ‘business as usual.’
Empathy, someone to listen and share their feelings, is one of the basic needs an individual has during dramatic company change. The listening and understanding required for an individual to feel empathy is imperative. This isn’t a time for leaders to do all the talking. It is also a time to listen and respond to thoughts, ideas, fears and concerns that their employees have about the changes taking place. Leaders will have an opportunity to influence the movement of individuals through the different stages of change, and the foundation for that is empathy.
In their book, Aftershock, Harry Woodward and Steve Buchholz present an effective model for helping individuals move through change successfully. It is called Clarify, Share, Engage. I give you the essence of the three part model below. Try it, it really works.
Clarify: The first step of this model is to Clarify the issues and concerns an individual may have with the changes taking place. Listening is at the core of this. Listen for what is said, and what is not said. You will learn equally from both. Listen carefully to their concerns, not to refute them but to Clarify that you understand them. Most problems with changes stem from the fear of the unknown. People really don’t know what is going to happen next in this new world and that frightens them. By listening and Clarifying their concerns you can help them move past their fears. As you listen you want to make sure you are getting to the essence of their concerns and this will require you to actively guide the conversation. Ask questions like “what do you fear losing” and “what would you like to gain”? This is where the empathy part comes in. As you summarize everything that you have heard people will feel heard and understood. They will feel your empathy and that will encourage them to move forward with you into the unknown, into changing territory.
Share: In the second part of this model you are going to relate what they just said to you back to the changes taking place by Sharing your understanding of what is happening in the company. Remember to always keep it focused and related to their concerns. Otherwise you will come off as having just gone through the motions of listening. You might start generally, outlining the changes to make sure they understand them. Just remember to come back to their concerns. Even if their fears will actually be realized (i.e. loss of a job, position, opportunity), your honesty and straightforwardness will be appreciated in the long run.
Engage: So you have clarified, you have shared and now it is time to gain the individual’s commitment to move forward with you through the changes. By engaging the individual and helping them feel ownership of the success of the initiative, you will lay the foundation not just for the company’s success but for their own. The first thing you want to do in this stage is make sure they are clear about the changes and how they line up with their issues and concerns. Ask them for any ideas on how they can help make the changes successful. Create a small action plan with them to help them implement one or two of their ideas. Don’t make it more work. The volume of work during times of change is usually overwhelming to begin with. Help them fit it in with something they are already doing. Check back with them so see how they are faring.
The Essence of the Essence: In short, the essence of this model is to listen to the fears and hopes of the individual, relate their fears and hopes to the actual changes, and engage them in moving into the changes with you. For those of you knowledgeable about the stages of change, remember that the Clarify step will be most critical during the Anger and Denial stages of change. In fact, you can help an individual move through those stages faster by utilizing the Clarify step to its fullest. Once they are in Exploration, use the Share step to help them understand the changes in their own context. And then bring it all home during Commitment by utilizing the Engage step as explained above.
Summary and a Few Words of Warning: If you focus on the concerns of others and then, and only then, engage them in the future you will succeed. Your sincere interest in others and their fears and hopes will be critical in the success of your business initiative. If you aren’t really interested in others, don’t just go through the motions – people can tell. If you can’t listen your way out of a paper bag, get some help in upgrading your skills before you attempt to utilize this model. If your intention is to really help others move through the changes successfully then by showing empathy you will successfully move the center of attention from the individual to the future, and the business results desired.
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