“We determine whether a change is positive or negative by how we choose to respond to it.” –Howard Greenwald. Organizations: Management without Control.
Change Management Consulting
Through the development and oversight of a brand’s internal and external communications strategies, we are able to craft specialized messaging and designs that facilitate seamless transitions. By incorporating stakeholders, our approach offers clear and visually-engaging communications that maintain operational continuity and understanding. With this focus on strategy and stakeholder engagement, our services optimize communication effectiveness and foster confidence during periods of change.
There are three types of change.
- Natural Change: These are the natural processes we experience in life.
- Initiated Change: These are self-directed changes that we control.
- Imposed Change: These are caused by external drivers.
Whether your company is undergoing an acquisition, an IPO, a new product launch or a downsize, change is the only thing that’s constant. And regardless of the type of change your company is experiencing, it is your responsibility as a communications professional to manage it in a way that is both healthy and helpful for yourself and your team. Because all change is personal change.
Change Management & Widespread Communications
Deciding what each employee needs to know and what every employee should know is a difficult balance. Companies that hold back too much are considered secretive, siloed and disengaged from their workforce. Companies that share too much can cause confusion about what’s important, create anxiety unnecessarily and reduce faith in the leader’s ability to lead through change.
Reframing Bad News with Internal Stakeholders
As important as it is to be transparent about what’s affecting the company, as well as how you’re responding to it, it is equally important to provide direction.
When delivering information to employees and other internal team members, include:
- What is happening
- What caused it
- Why it matters
- What they should do about it
Too often, we assume employees understand what caused our choices and the implications to their job and the company. Using a “what’s in it for me” approach to your company’s communications can help with messaging that could be perceived as negative.
Redefining Your Workplace Culture
According to the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), an organization's culture defines the proper way to behave within the organization. This culture consists of the shared beliefs and values established by leaders, and then communicated and reinforced through various methods, ultimately shaping employee perceptions, behaviors and understanding.
All companies like to say that quality, safety and performance are core values, but this goes further.
- How do we stay safe?
- Are we a company that is repetitive, or are we seeking to observe new hazards?
- What defines quality? Perfection or good enough on time?
- Who is a top performer? Someone who is trusted to follow procedures or someone who suggests new ideas?
- Who is “one of us,” and how does that person behave?
In some companies, innovative thoughts are celebrated, and a change mindset is essential.
In some, the risk of failure is too great, so planning and strategy are defining characteristics.
The culture of a company can be formed by its:
INDUSTRY - Some industries are slow to change or have significant safety considerations. This means that these companies are conservative when confronting market change and regulatory policies. “Wait and see” is a typical motto.
LOCATION - In the past, you could trust your colleagues, because you know their momma and their kids, which is beneficial. It also has costs–people are less likely to embrace new and “risky” ideas. Now, with remote workers living far away, it takes time and attention to develop trust.
Defining new core values by labeling them is one thing. Every piece of internal communication needs to begin celebrating the values that will make the company (and the people in it) successful in the long-term.
Reactions to Consider as You Develop Change Management Messaging
Different employees will react differently to your change management approaches. You’ll want to consider four, different approaches to change.
An analytical-thinking employee:
- Needs to research or understand how the change came about.
- May logically justify negative reactions to change.
- Needs time to ponder the change, but may experience analysis paralysis.
- May become critical of the plan or the logic behind the change.
A systematic-thinking employee:
- Tries to put change into different contexts that they understand..
- Will develop their own plans, map out what should happen and may replace one plan with another.
- Wants to know the correct way to check the change off the list.
- Desires a clear plan with steps to achieve the goal.
A socially-oriented employee:
- Processes change through personal stories (their own and others).
- Tends to use their emotions to judge whether change is positive or negative.
- Is concerned with how the change impacts others.
- Tends to take change personally, and may impact their relational tactfulness.
A creative employee:
- Can lose ideas by spending too much time thinking about the change.
- Tends to seek the ideal, resulting in additional frustration.
- May be perceived as embracing change for change sake.
- May navigate change by shifting focus to issues unrelated to the change event.
COVID-19 Shifted Everything about Change Management
Nationally, companies are seeing that 2020 was a year of trust, where employees tried to weather the storm of uncertainty by holding on to the jobs and the career path they were on. 2021 was the “Great Resignation,” where individuals began seeking a path to personal satisfaction by leaving the workforce, changing jobs and even career paths and ambitions.
Companies began to settle into the need to be nimble (by reducing headcount and keeping “utility infielders”), took advantage of opportunities (by entering new markets and developing new products) and fueled the urgency to focus on finances (through debt restructuring and tighter cash management). This caused a shift in employee satisfaction, engagement and commitment throughout the nation in all industries.
It’s not just your company that is experiencing a reduction in engagement. Forbes offered insight saying, “The paradox of layoffs: engagement drops when you need it most.”
Researchers from Stockholm University found that after a layoff, employees experienced a 41% decline in job satisfaction, a 36% decline in organizational commitment and a 20% decline in job performance.
In looking at 2021 US Gallup poll data measuring employee engagement, there are more factors to the drop in engagement and satisfaction outside of layoffs. For the first time in more than a decade, the percentage of engaged workers declined in 2021.
In 2020, 14% of the workforce was actively disengaged from their job.
In 2021, 16% of the workforce was actively disengaged from their job.
Employees nationwide were getting pandemic burnout and looking for the light at the end of the tunnel, but not seeing it. Results show employees might not know the bigger picture.
Specific Tactical Actions Change Management Can Help With
Multiple Messengers
While the best news and the worst news should definitely come from the CEO, multiple voices and faces need to be seen and heard across the company. In the best environments, employees trust their own division head. By hearing from each of the division heads on a regular basis, employees gain:
- an understanding of the way their division fits into the overall company’s goals.
- trust that their leader is respected by other leaders.
- a clearer view of what other divisions do.
The tactical actions below are essential to breaking down silos, increasing transparency and building a better foundation for difficult responses to a volatile economy.
- Clear Direction
- Increased Communication Channels
- Work/Life Flexibility
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Peer Support
- Professional Development and Career Growth
- Inspiration
Insider Trading
Insider trading refers to buying or selling a security, in breach of a fiduciary duty or other relationship of trust and confidence, on the basis of material, nonpublic information about the security. Insider trading violations may also include "tipping" such information, securities trading by the person "tipped," and securities trading by those who misappropriate such information.
Examples of insider trading cases that have been brought by the SEC are cases against:
- Corporate officers, directors and employees who traded the corporation's securities after learning of significant, confidential corporate developments;
- Friends, business associates, family members and other "tippees" of such officers, directors and employees, who traded the securities after receiving such information;
- Employees of law, banking, brokerage and printing firms who traded based on information they obtained in connection with providing services to the corporation whose securities they traded;
- Government employees who traded based on confidential information they learned because of their employment with the government;
- Political intelligence consultants who may tip or trade based on material, nonpublic information they obtain from government employees; and
- Other persons who misappropriated, and took advantage of, confidential information from their employers, family, friends and others.
Because insider trading undermines investor confidence in the fairness and integrity of the securities markets, the SEC has treated the detection and prosecution of insider trading violations as one of its enforcement priorities.
Learn more about what qualifies as insider trading and how to avoid it.
FAQs
Stakeholders include executive leadership, division heads, HR, communications teams and employees across all levels. External partners and consultants may also be involved when specialized expertise is needed. Since all change is ultimately personal, every individual within the organization is a stakeholder in how change is received and adopted. Engaging multiple voices builds trust, breaks down silos and improves understanding across divisions.
Outside consultants are especially valuable during complex transitions like mergers, acquisitions, downsizing or culture shifts. They bring strategic objectivity, specialized messaging and tools to manage change efficiently while maintaining operational continuity. Consultants help navigate sensitive communication, ensure stakeholder alignment and support employees through personal and organizational transformation. Their involvement can make change feel both safe and effective, especially in risk-averse industries or uncertain climates.
Any significant shift, whether structural, cultural or strategic, benefits from change management. This includes major events like IPOs, product launches or layoffs, as well as more subtle transitions like redefining values or adjusting team dynamics. Even imposed or external changes require intentional communication and support. The greater the potential for disruption or emotional impact, the more necessary structured change management becomes.
Yes, effective change management requires a coordinated strategy for both internal and external communications. Internally, messaging needs to focus on employee needs, how the changes will impact them. Externally, communications must align with brand reputation, market positioning and stakeholder confidence. Having consistent messaging across both ensures clarity, reduces confusion and builds trust during periods of change.
Change must start at the top. Leadership needs to be in alignment, with strategic direction and clear communication. But, change is only successful when it is supported from the bottom up. Employees at every level need to understand, accept and engage with the change personally. True transformation happens when both leaders and teams take ownership and make forward together.
“As a change agent or project leader, it is no longer sufficient to address only organizational change management activities, such as communication and training. Individual change management models are necessary to support employees who hold the new values of empowerment, accountability and ownership of day-to-day work.” - J.M. Hiatt, Change Management: The People Side of Change.