How can HR influence Transformation and Change Management?

• Complexities in stakeholder management and workplace environment
• Talent development and management across an increasingly specialised organisation
• How to effectively escalate expertise
• Leadership coaching
• Understanding the sphere of influence
• Rating and recognition
• Increased need to understand individual motivation in an ever-diverse environment

Nokia made for an interesting case study on the subject of transformation and change management, as it has been a change-forward organisation throughout its history and continues to be so, even as its technology portfolio is fanned out to many new industries. During a guest presentation on the evening, Marcus Ruh, HR Director at Adidas, explained the need for change management at Adidas that occurs every two years and is driven by customers. He reinforced the importance of having a strong and consistent corporate vision throughout APAC and explained how much of their agility stems from having a diverse PMO office, which has been critical in establishing effective workstreams. Marcus added that HR plays a key role at the top of these workstreams, as they are expected to drive the change and to connect managers, employees and project teams, as well as enforcing the importance of talent development and employee engagement. Tying it all together is strong corporate communication, through both high-level, big picture focused work and more intimate, story-driven personal successes. Osamu Aihara, HR Head at Pfizer, also spoke on the importance of communication and how to initiate and influence new corporate behaviours. Similar weight was given to the need for strong leadership teams as well as having change champions representative of the entire organisation. Osamu explained the value of understanding the distinction between top down and bottom down styles and knowing when and how to make use of each. Pfizer also found great success in deploying change agents with an almost grassroots approach that saw many of the staff-level employees embracing, building and sustaining motivated change, which from an HR perspective also served as a very effective tool for identifying high-potential talent. As the conversation continued, a number of interesting ideas for supporting change management were offered up, including: Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) M&A brings significant change even to those companies and professionals accustomed to frequent transitions, with both internal and external forces exerting themselves on employees at all organisational levels. Simple remedies can involve mixing individuals and teams together from each of the representative companies as early as possible, making use of shared services and having assessments provided from multiple sources. Internal Promotion Having an internal system that recognises value and allows for employees to vote for each other allows for recognition and positive cultural reinforcement. Recognition and reward for non-sales functions An awards ceremony to recognise successful back office projects can be powerful in showcasing the critical role they play in the organisation – teams could submit project / work examples which are then voted on by colleagues. In summaryOrganisational transformation is going to come with a wide variety of challenges and will strongly impact engagement and the sense of belonging, both for customers and employees. However, by taking an honest approach and being sincere in your communication at all levels, change management can be handled gracefully and with distinction. To keep up with the latest HR trends, subscribe to our quarterly newsletter or follow us on LinkedIn.You can also check out our latest global HR opportunities, or contact our consulting team to discuss your search needs.