change that is needed? More changes to come In the coming years, it is clear that employee skills will need to change. Not only productivity targets and customer service skills but becoming tech wizards will be a fundamental requirement. According to the World Economic Forum, 50 per cent of all employees will need reskilling by 2025 due to the adoption of new technologies, with 40 per cent of core skills changing. Many of us are already behind the curve.  Workers need support now more than ever. That’s why it’s so disappointing to see Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives being rolled back. For example, Walmart is no longer supporting the Center for Racial Equality. The fear that other businesses may follow is worrying and destabilising for many.  What makes change so hard? “When change initiatives fail (and they do so more often than not) they rarely fail on technical skills, they fail on the people skills.” That’s according to David A Shore Doctor of Philosophy, Education/Strategy, Southern Illinois University.  Shore tells us that change most often fails when communication fails. Lacking clarity, focusing on the what not the why and trying to undertake too much too quickly are key reasons for failure. But the emotional impact of change is confronting.  The Kubler-Ross Change Curve model demonstrates how different people react to significant change, based on the Five Stages of Grief. From Shock through to Integration there are many different emotional states that employees go through. Using this model, and applying it to your communications and actions, can help organisations navigate the different stages of change.  Change requires empathy and understanding for individuals and teams to manage the emotional rollercoaster it can create. Five simple starts to help manage change Link purpose, vision and values. Too often these fundamental elements are missing from change programs or not well understood by employees. Values on a wall or a lofty purpose that doesn’t connect to the everyday. Clearly connecting and communicating how your change program delivers on your purpose and demonstrating how your values enable you to get there unites your organisation. Doing this can re-iterate and refresh understanding of these important foundations and shift the focus to the why and the how of change. It’s a purpose program not a change program. UK skincare brand Faith in Nature has set change at the heart of its organisation by literally putting nature on the board. Representing nature as a real person inspires a mindset change throughout the organisation helping employees ask ‘what would nature do’. An inspiring, purpose-led and impactful action. Set your metrics. The soft metrics matter as much as the hard. Creating a ‘deficit dashboard’ can enable you to identify where the gaps are and solve them. Setting core metrics around understanding, engagement and acceptance (I know and understand my role) through short, simple pulse surveys or a place for questions to be submitted, can monitor progress and assure employees that they are being listened to.   Link your experience: customer and employee. Defining how you want change to impact your customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) can help identify both risks and opportunities ahead of the change. Trying to do everything all at once is exhausting. Focusing energy on the areas where you can create a disproportionate impact will enable you to elevate the positive benefits in a targeted and efficient approach. In transforming its business into a circular-led organisation, Ikea recognised the need to pause and reflect. Creating Retro Week every four months, they took a week to refine plans, bring in inspiring speakers and create a place of well-being where people felt comfortable raising issues and reflecting on progress. Language matters. Remove the overused and exhausting change language. Acceleration, transformation, momentum. Even writing them feels tiring, let alone delivering them. Instead, go for language that inspires and makes sense; link it to your purpose, values and brand and it will be far more effective than the corporate jargon we’re used to hearing ad nauseam. Zappos, renowned for its human customer and employee-centric approach, never shies away from using positive, affirming language. The business implemented employee recognition programs including rewarding Zollars and the Master of WOW Parking bringing the brand’s purpose, values and playful humour to inspire and ignite action. Empower and hold to account. Change requires everyone to play their part. Not a top-down exercise but something everyone in the organisation is responsible for and can be proud of. It’s an opportunity to drive purpose and ambition with your team and empower their role – however small. Creating commitment cards that you revisit enables ownership and clarity on expectations, driving understanding of the change and the part they play.  Change, as they say, is the only constant. And it’s good for us – it makes us better, adaptable and future-fit. But by constantly shouting about change, we are creating an exhausting environment. By focusing on simplicity, empathy and connecting to our existing programs day-to-day, we can enable the most positive results for organisations, their people and their customers.