According to Weber Shandwick research, 55% of employees who have recently gone through a change event wanted more social and digital interaction with their employer. Although not a replacement for face-to-face engagement, internal social media is becoming a more and more important component of an effective change management strategy – especially given the global and dispersed nature of today’s workforce. Regardless of the change event – from a CEO transition to an acquisition – it can shorten the distance between leaders and employees, empower employees to help influence the future state, offer camaraderie and a space to process, and drive employee behavior change.

When a global healthcare company undertook the introduction of a new operating model that impacted where and how work got done across the organization, they looked to break through the noise and demonstrate greater authenticity by moving from 1-way information cascades to a more interactive way of engaging with their stakeholders.  They needed employees to both understand the business rationale for the change and commit to a new way of working.

The company considered a wide range of tools that would help them leverage internal social media as a change management tool – from a mobile app that people managers going through launches could leverage to communicate with one another, to "Jam” sessions hosted on Yammer that allow small groups of employees around the world to ask real-time questions of project leaders in a protected environment, to employee-narrated videos explaining the "before” and "after” posted to an internal video sharing platform for liking, commenting and sharing. They also considered creating a viral, competitive internal social campaign that invited employees to commit to the new way of working by posting one thing they would do differently in the future state; they would then track commitments by region until 100% of employees had pledged their support.  Because the company has a more conservative culture, encouraging this type of openness, transparency and engagement is taking time, but early feedback suggests that employees are moving along the change continuum from resistance to acceptance and have a clear understanding of the case for change.

Companies interested in adding social to their change management quiver should take time to assess their tools, develop a risk mitigation plan, convert their leaders and track key metrics along the way. 

This post was contributed by Sarah Clayton, Executive Vice President with Weber Shandwick.  Sarah recently participated as a panel member for a presentation on Communicating Change.   This blog share some of the highlights of the role of social media in effective change communication.  More information about Sarah may be found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-jensen-clayton-091b86

Have you seen the TV show Tiny House Nation? I really like it. Drawn to the prospect of financial freedom, a simpler lifestyle, and limiting one's environmental footprint, more buyers are opting to downsize -- in some cases, to spaces no larger than 300 square feet -- and this series celebrates the "tiny house" movement.

The host and the carpenter make a great team. Zack is the creative and ingenious builder, working on the new organizational design, structure and processes. Host and presenter John is the people manager who needs to create awareness, "tiny living” readiness and to get buy-in to this tiny living concept. 

Of course there is someone showing a lot of resistance to this revolutionary way of living. This is the moment where John comes in with his customized change communication tools! He facilitates limited space exercises with families, lets spouses co-build, does clothing reduction exercises with couples, organizes funny quizzes and has cute and confrontational chats over too many dolls and I-never-want-to-part-from-my-101-pair-of-shoes. Of course at the end of the show, even the 15 year old is 100% on board, totally committed to his new tiny house. A check-in after 1 month (read: employee repeat-survey) shows the whole family living happily ever after.

At our very well-attended NYC-SHRM event on March 3, our 3 fabulous panelists, Diane Oettinger-Myracle, Craig Haas and Sarah Clayton, discussed 3 totally different cases from 3 different perspectives. And yet, all addressed  ‘Change Communications’ and their specific choice of tools.

I think you get my point: no matter what organization and the case for change, communicating change is all about engaging stakeholders – from employees, managers and clients to volunteers  – to overcome resistance and realize transformation. Using metrics is like hitting the nail on the head by showing undeniable data. Social media turns into a powerful support mechanism, keeping your organization in different locations tight and aligned. Story telling is like that perfect inspirational quote on the wall, reflecting your family values.

And so, OD and Change Management practitioners, start building your House of Commitment by choosing a mix of change communication tools that match your organizational culture, size etc.  But please don’t get too comfortable by grabbing that good ol’ hammer that was still your grandpa’s. Also try out that new tool that’s just on the market and trust the users. All stakeholders might be pleasantly surprised!

Anita van Burken

Co-Chair, OD & Change SIG, NYC-SHRM