In my last article I looked at the characteristics of complacency and urgency. In particular, I highlighted the mistake made by so many organisations undergoing change when they believe they have created a sense of urgency. Often, the frenetic activity displayed by employees and other stakeholders has no real basis. When such false urgency takes hold, energy is expended unnecessarily toward activities with no purpose on the road to organisational change.

A change leader is able to create real urgency by employing these five effective change management strategies. Before we look at them, though, let’s remind ourselves how fatal false urgency can be.

Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right

I observe complacency and stagnancy in many of the organisations with which I work. Complacency is destructive because it becomes a culture in which organisational change is never considered. Often this isn’t a conscious decision: it is simply the way things are. An organisation gets to the top of its game and it becomes too sacred to change for fear of upsetting its status.

On the other hand, stagnant organisations are evidenced by individual malaise. Again, this is a corporate culture issue. Managers train their people to do a particular job, and expect no more, no less. The job is repeated hour after hour, day after day. Workers are not encouraged to grow, learn new things, or discover better ways of doing what they do.

Now, it’s my experience that most people actually want to learn. The natural human evolution is that people want to find ways to do things faster, better, and more cheaply. When the working environment doesn’t allow them to do this only serves to stagnate.

In such an environment, people themselves either become complacent or act with a false urgency. The manager that engenders an attitude of ‘I think I can’t’ will find that their people will satisfy this ambition. If your workplace is manned by people doing little to grow professionally or by people working furiously but adding little value, then it is suffering from complacency or false urgency.

Look inward before tackling culture

Your employees aren’t the only ones who may be suffering from false urgency. If you find yourself constantly in and out of meetings, repeating the same thing over and over again, or working on projects with no end in sight, then you are a victim of false urgency, too.

Knowing this, these five strategies to create employee urgency can also be used as a basis for self-improvement in your own career and as a leader of change.
1 Add value to the existing routine

An employee who has become proficient in their work is a valuable resource, but on who can add value to the task is invaluable. With a natural urge to grow and develop, people will welcome the opportunity to produce better value for money. Part of this process should be self-development. Don’t think that you have to structure people’s careers for them. Ask how they can produce better and add value to the job, product or service, and their own profession. Encourage them to be involved in this process, and you’ll get a better buy-in.
2 Involve people in change management

Don’t force organisational change on an unsuspecting audience. Again, get them involved in the process. They are, after all, probably your most important stakeholders.  Ask for input, discuss decisions, and help them to be engaged in the change.

3 Engender a team atmosphere

You may think you have developed a good team environment, but you should ask yourself if this is really the case. Take a step back and watch how your people interact with each other. They may be highly skilled professionals, but do they work together as a team? Do your employees help others to learn? Encourage them to become mentors of others, and help them to become workplace coaches.
4 Share vision to engage employees

Your vision should be a shared vision. Explain the challenges and opportunities your organisation faces, and encourage your people to see the self-benefits that organisational change will promote.

Engage and empower to lead effective organisational change

The watchwords of the change leader should be engagement and empowerment.  You’ll notice that every one of the four strategies I have highlighted above have their foundations in creating a culture in which the employee feels an integral part of the process of change. This is the real key to creating urgency for change.

Take your people’s natural professional evolutionary psychology, and use that inbuilt urgency to develop urgency for change.