People&Processes
Change management is aptly named. No organization can avoid or avert change. It can only be managed — and, even then, only temporarily.
How successfully any life sciences organization implements change management depends on its ability to assemble a cross-functional team to develop and carry out forward-thinking strategies and agile solutions. Whether an organization is working to evolve the company culture, launch a new product or adopt an emerging technology, it must pull together the skills of various departments and stakeholders to identify and capitalize on the opportunities that change presents.
Unfortunately, all too often, learning & development (L&D) teams are underutilized during their organization’s change management processes, particularly during preparation and post-launch reinforcement. This is a serious misstep. Change readiness involves more than planning — it’s about preparing people for meaningful transformation and ensuring a lasting impact. In these areas, L&D teams have significant expertise to contribute, which can ensure their colleagues are truly prepared to embrace what’s ahead and that the benefits of the change management process are lasting.
Much like training initiatives, successful change management efforts typically unfold in three key phases — preparation, implementation and reinforcement. While L&D’s role in implementing change training is well established, its capabilities in identifying needs and supporting sustained behavior change are often less understood.
Unfortunately, when L&D is not significantly involved in all three phases, the change management process can suffer. The danger for any organization is that ineffective change management can cause confusion, frustration and resistance.
The good news is that these are challenges that L&D is uniquely positioned to address by providing clarity, enhancing skills and increasing worker engagement and job satisfaction through training and communication.
Effective change management depends heavily on foresight. Correctly anticipating and understanding factors that can derail a change initiative allows an organization time to respond.
When L&D is brought in late to the change management process, training becomes less strategic and more reactive. A key opportunity is missed to shape mindsets, clarify expectations and reduce resistance.
That’s why it’s essential to include L&D from the start. By conducting a needs analysis at the front end of a change initiative, an L&D team can best enable its organization to:
Anticipate critical capability gaps. L&D is uniquely positioned to synthesize available data and stakeholder input to identify critical skill gaps in areas like leadership, sales and technology. Understanding these gaps empowers an organization to then implement plans to improve on these areas ahead of a change.
Identify change goals. Supported by data they collected and analyzed, an L&D team can clearly articulate goals that align with the organization’s overall mission.
Develop training strategies aligned to learning objectives and change goals. By first understanding the desired outcomes, L&D can more effectively support these outcomes by pinpointing the most impactful skills and behaviors people need and the most effective way to accomplish objectives and provide valuable support.
Communicate effectively and build awareness. Ahead of the transformation, L&D can provide transparency that boosts support across the organization. By using multiple formats (email, internal social media, presentations, newsletters), the team can reach a wide audience to explain the purpose, goals and benefits of the change.
Anticipating that many will initially be suspicious of this change, L&D can help ensure buy-in — and drive behaviors that support success — by clarifying the steps involved in the process as well as performance expectations.
Get ready to pivot. Even the best plans can be upended by factors outside of our control. How an organization responds in such moments of upheaval will determine its success. L&D teams can be especially adept at helping foster the skills employees need to stay flexible, adaptable and resilient.
First, they can conduct surveys to determine how well learners are able to navigate the uncertainty of change, maintain a sense of well-being and perform effectively throughout the process. Then, after analyzing which behaviors need to be bolstered, L&D teams can plan and conduct training to help people adapt, build resilience, adopt a growth mindset and, importantly, connect their purpose with the purpose for the change.
Once change management training has been delivered, it’s essential that L&D works to ensure its impacts are sustained and embedded into daily behaviors. Lasting change management relies on effective reinforcement so the team can:
Provide ongoing support. This can take the form of peer coaching, digital nudges or manager-led check-ins that help embed new behaviors into daily routines.
Gather and report training impact data. This includes measuring outcomes through surveys and evaluation, communicating findings to key stakeholders and leadership and reinforcing new habits among learners through ongoing support.
Encourage continuous feedback across the organization. Leading by example, L&D should foster a culture of open communication that values honesty and constructive criticism. Members of the L&D team should actively solicit feedback and seek opportunities for meaningful dialogue.
Make iterative improvements. The team should evolve programs, using the data and feedback they have gathered, to keep them relevant and impactful.
Celebrate success publicly — and often. Acknowledgement of achievements reinforces progress and promotes a culture of continuous learning — encouraging employees to embrace a growth mindset.
As stated at the outset, effective change management relies on mobilizing expertise across the entire organization. Though L&D is just one part of this coalition, it plays a critical role by equipping employees with the tools, mindset and support needed to adapt, minimize disruption and achieve lasting outcomes. Ultimately, by engaging L&D early and often, organizations give themselves the best chance to successfully transform change from a disruption into a catalyst for innovation, resilience and growth.
Hollace Masino, M.S., is director of instructional design & strategy for Encompass Communications and Learning. Email Hollace at hmasino@encompasscnl.com or connect through www.linkedin.com/in/hollacestephensonmasino/.
