Managing change

Recognizing employee types can help improve implementation

ByDon Phin

One of my favorite jokes: How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: Only one, but the light bulb has to really want to change!

One of the greatest challenges faced by agency principals is getting their workforce to go along with change implementation. Perhaps it's a new client management program, a new sales program, a restructuring of the workforce, etc. Over the years, I've heard many owners lament the difficulty of getting people to change. In this article, I'm going to provide some insight and strategies to help with that process.

Employee responses to change vary, but there are basically three types.

Resistors.

This group is concerned about changing because they fear that the change will turn out to be a negative experience for them. Included within this group are employees you should have fired a long time ago. Their greatest concern is that they will be "found out" as not being as valuable as folks thought they were. The other type of person has achieved a modicum of success, for example, a broker who takes home $100,000 per year and has built a lifestyle around that income. This type of person may view the new program more as a threat to that comfort zone than as a way to earn even more.

Very simply, you can't have the lunatics run the asylum. They're either on board with the change or they go work elsewhere. The resistant employee is probably not that valuable in the first place. That broker who makes $100,000 per year and puts $40,000 per year in ownership's pockets will cause more than $40,000 worth of disruption and divisiveness if he doesn't come on board.

Better to let them use their old ways with the competition. You can certainly allay some measure of their fear by acknowledging that the change won't happen overnight, that it is a process and will require education and training on their part. As Jim Collins stated in his books, it takes a while for the "flywheel effect" to kick in.

This is an excellent point to bring up. When agencies switch to new programs, or new styles of selling (from traditional broker to risk management consultant for example), they're not going to be good at it right away. There will be stumbling and fumbling, and mistakes will be made. That's a natural part of the process and certainly not a reason to give up on it. In my experience, it often takes agencies many months, if not years, for the flywheel to fully kick in. But when it finally does, they blow away their competition—the same competition that's not willing to go through the pain of change.

Sheep.

I can hear them now, "Baa, baa, baa." Very simply, they'll go along with anything. The challenge with them is that they don't go along with both feet.The way to motivate these employees is to broaden their horizon. To help them understand that engaging in this new method will help them make more of a difference at the agency and with their clients. For example, in the end, a total-cost-of-risk approach to working with a client will do more for that company's bottom line than simply selling the cheapest piece of insurance that you can find.

This is where leadership has to be great at being a good storyteller. It's also a good idea to be inclusive and have these employees help champion the change. Identify what their fears are and help take them away. As I state in all my workshops, "Don't let people play victim on you." If this new approach for doing business is working well for other agencies, then share those stories. For example, you may encourage a brief open dialogue with a noncompeting agency that has gone through the change to help encourage your employees to do the same.

Change Champions.

This third type of employee is the one who has been pushing for the change all along. They wonder what took you so long. The challenge with these employees is to help keep them focused. Sometimes they can become so distracted by the desire to do new and different things that they become disconnected from the blocking and tackling that has to continue in any business. It's important to include these employees because they are going to want to be a part of defining this change. Give them a specific role in the change process and remind them that they still have tasks to do that may not be encapsulated in that change.

There's no escaping the need for change. Life doesn't stand still. Neither does a business. Unfortunately, most folks are focused on finding a comfort zone. In a sense, they're looking to find themselves comfortably in the middle. Of course, if you stand in the middle of the road long enough, you'll be run over by an agency not interested in being comfortable. You may need to point out where the agency had gone through change in its past or discuss changes they have gone through personally. What were the fears and the lessons learned? How can they apply those lessons to your present change effort?

As the saying goes, you have to burn the bridges to the past. Many companies will go through the metaphor of burying the old way of doing business. Perhaps even have a funeral for it. I know of companies that have actually rented caskets for such an occasion.

In conclusion, the most successful agency will stay true to the concepts of integrity, great service, and the providing of proper insurance coverages while, at the same time, embracing change and working along the cutting edge. In summary: If you can't convince the Resistors of the appropriateness of a change, then eliminate them. Make the world of the Sheep a bigger one and be very inclusive of the Change Champions who want to be part of the cause.

The author

Don Phin is the president of the Employer Advisors Network, Inc. He can be reached at (800) 234-3304 or don@hrthatworks.com.