Performance Management

Change Management: Supporting The Change Process (E)

What is necessary for change sustainability? When is the change implementation successful?

Posted: Apr 2010

Now when the change is successfully initiated, you must make sure that the change is sustained. Change that is well planned, prepared, launched, but failed in long term execution is waste of time. On top of this, you will have to start up again eventually. This time the people may be less eager to repeat the same thing again, since the last attempt failed. 

In order to sustain the change process you need to reinforce the process and follow up the results. This will require from manager to apply various types of support and pressure. The pressure needs to be applied according the situation. The purpose of the pressure is to produce creative tension.

Creating the motivation pressure is a very sensitive matter. Pressure can have positive or negative results. Positive pressure helps the organization to perform the best. It brings motivation and challenge. Negative pressure is the one that create too much or too little impact. Applying the right pressure is of the crucial importance for change to sustain.

Also, pressure creates the stress. The perception of the stress is individual. The state of stress occurs when individual’s perception of pressure exceed the person's capacity to cope with stress.

Stress is also motivating, since it helps achievements. Still, it can create negative results if it is applied for prolonged period. Stress is subjective – what is stressful for one person may not be stressful to the other.

Ultimate goal of the change is to create the change of the mindset. When the culture of the employees accept the new rules and principles, than it becomes natural. In this case there is no need to apply the pressure for the change process, since the change become natural way of doing things. Once the change becomes natural way of thinking it can be said that the implementation of change was successful.

Related Reading:

Change Management - Introduction
Step 1: Engaging & Creating the Change Environment
Step 2: Building the Change Team 
Step 3: Defining the Vision 
Step 4: Building the Communication Plan
Step 5: Motivating, Empowering and Inspiring for Action 
Step 6: Supporting the Change process