LEADING THOUGHTS

In the journal Global Business and Organizational Excellence, Stephen Wehrenberg offers an insider perspective on an enterprise change management initiative at the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard provides an interesting case study. It is admirably flexible when facing operational issues; leaders have to adapt to changing situations. But the Coast Guard is as rigid as they come when non-operational changes are needed.

Wehrenberg, director of HR strategy and executive development for the Coast Guard, offers a number of reasons for resistance to change: autonomy at low levels; accountability for results with less attention to process; high degree of leader turnover; and a feeling of “change saturation.”

Wehrenberg and his team designed a “stealth” strategy to build local participation and earn some wins in order to gain broad adoption at the unit level. They also adopted a portfolio change management approach to help senior leaders prioritize initiatives. And they employed the Project Change Triangle Assessment to evaluate strength in three areas critical to change: executive sponsorship, project management discipline, and change management discipline.

The change management process at the Coast Guard is ongoing so there is more to this case study that needs to be written. But it is still a worthwhile read for those planning change in large, culturally complex organizations.

“The Coast Guard Charts a Course for Enterprise Change Management,” by Stephen Wehrenberg; Global Business and Organizational Excellence (pp. 17-31, November/December 2009)

If you cannot find this journal is your local library, email me for a copy of the article at Alan [at] AlanMorantz.com

photo credit: KyleZOA

The UK-based CIPD just released a report designed to stir interest in the benefits of organizational “shared sense of purpose.” CIPD defines shared purpose as an organization’s “identity and ‘the golden thread’ to which its strategy should be aligned.”

In a CIPD survey of 3,000 UK employees (May 2009), just under half said they experience a strong sense of shared purpose at work compared to 28 percent who certainly do not.

Based on this survey data and a literature review, CIPD researchers list six factors that drive a strong sense of shared purpose.

1. An invigorating organizational purpose
This goes beyond making money or making shareholders happy. The strongest driver is “creating a better world for customers, stakeholders, or society” (as long as the organization can deliver, of course).

2. Effective leadership
These are leaders who actively develop shared purpose and mobilize people’s energy, often through the use of storytelling.

3. A compelling vision and strategy
“Both vision and strategy need to be grounded in clear goals to be achieved and employees need to understand how their roles contribute to delivering those goals.” Don’t forget to celebrate progress toward achieving those goals.

4. A meaningful employee voice in decisions
Employees need to be consulted and to feel they have opportunities to be involved in making decisions.

5. Effective performance management
Employees need to understand what’s expected of them and receive clear feedback and coaching from their boss.

6. Common practices
Common practices, such as the adoption of a shared approach to quality, can break down functional and physical boundaries.

The CIPD report includes a “shared purpose in practice” case study of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

To download a copy of the report, go here or email me at Alan [at] AlanMorantz.com

photo credit: mrlerone

Here is a nice six-minute story from Fabienne Munch, Director of Ideation at Herman Miller, about how she transformed and energized her 15-member team in the space of five months.

Stealing an idea from Google’s playbook, Munch gave members of her team $5,000 each to pursue an idea of their choice. There were three conditions: the project had to relate to Herman Miller’s mission; the staffers had to invite an outsider to participate; and they had to be open to the idea of pooling resources with their colleagues. At the five-minute mark, Munch talks about what happened next.

In the final two minutes, Munch talks about workplace trends that are informing how Herman Miller is designing work spaces.

For all the attention paid to domestic violence, there is little focus on how it may play out in the workplace. In fact, researchers from University of Arkansas say, it is a “dirty little secret” that domestic violence casts a shadow on workplace performance.

In a thorough overview of domestic abuse and the workplace, the authors illustrate the scale of the problem, offer a case study of one organization’s response, and present current best practices.

Just how big a workplace problem is Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)? Studies in 2006 and 2007 involving 2,400 workers at three large American organizations showed that 10 percent of female and male employees experienced  physical abuse, stalking, or threats of physical harm within the previous 12 months. Of these employees, 19 percent said some form of abuse occurred while they were at work, most likely stalking or threats by their partners.

What effect this has on their workplace performance is not clear, the authors state. Research to date seems to indicate that IPV affects the employee’s ability to be mentally engaged at work but not necessarily the employee’s ability to be physically present at work. IPV victims find a way to get to their jobs because they see employment as an economic lifeline. In the U.S. health care context, the average cost of IPV victimization ranges from $294 to $948.

The paper offers a case study of Liz Claiborne, Inc., where IPV started as an externally focused marketing campaign that grew into internal educational seminars and policies and protocols. From their experience and the experience of other organizations, the authors offer the following best practices:

• Organize a team to oversee the process, with representatives from HR, corporate security, legal services, communications, employee assistance programs, and unions. The team must be supported by top management. Small organizations can tap into local law enforcement or IPV advocacy groups for assistance.
• Develop a corporate policy that addresses: acceptable/unacceptable conduct; assistance available to affected employees; and guidance on how managers and co-workers should handle cases of IPV in the workplace. The policy is particularly useful for co-workers who are often unsure whether an incident should be noted or to whom it should be reported. The policy can either be included in the organization’s existing workplace safety policy or stand on its own. Sample policies are available at The Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence
• Provide training specific to domestic abuse, organization wide. Training should be based on the mantra “Recognize, Respond, Refer”: how to recognize the signs of IPV, how to help employees respond to an incident, and how to refer victims and co-workers to get help.
• Build awareness through internal communication.

Coming Into the Light: Intimate Partner Violence and Its Effects at Work; O’Leary-Kelly, Lean, Reeves, Randel; Academy of Management Perspectives (vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 57-71).

photo credit: taberandrew