"Dealing expertly with change"
Interview with Prof. Joachim Klewes, Senior Partner, and Ralf Langen, Partner and European Practice Group Leader Change & Transformation.
Mr Klewes, Mr Langen, you argue that organisations should pay more heed to communications during change processes. Isn’t that just obvious?
Ralf Langen: Many companies have in fact realised that they can no longer implement large-scale organisational change without involving their employees and informing the public. The less the rank and file know about the change, the greater their resistance. Certainly though, organisations often underestimate the role of communication …
Joachim Klewes: … and often, getting the rank and file involved turns out to be no more than paying them lip service. Employees can sense when management is not dealing with them openly and transparently.
Are you suggesting employees should have a say on every single decision?
Joachim Klewes: No, you would never be able to carry out a change project that way. It’s important to make some distinctions. If a change takes place during a crisis, for example, there’s no way you can keep everyone informed. In such situations, speed is of the essence. Employees simply expect clear leadership from those with decision-making responsibilities. It’s their job to get things back on track, and quickly.
Ralf Langen: In our Practice Group Change & Transformation we work with a metaphor of the Five Islands (or Continents) to describe the different kinds of organisational change. Change in crisis is like fleeing an island where a volcano is about to erupt. You need clear leadership structures, well-defined communications channels and streamlined processes to save your team from the lava.
Why the metaphors?
Joachim Klewes: Change in an organisation is a complex process. Our metaphors help to reduce this complexity and to find a common language for what is going on in the company. One could say: they create a suitable framework for the discussions that have to take place.
You mentioned that the public also has a right to know about changes within a company. Isn’t that asking a bit much?
Ralf Langen: Not when you consider the various stakeholders who are affected by organisational change. Closing a factory, for example, doesn’t just affect the employees, but also suppliers, and – depending on the scale – even the entire community. Take another example: if a company wants to further optimise its internal processes or change its product strategy, investors also have an interest in that.
Joachim Klewes: Ultimately, it’s a question of reputation. The more expertly a company deals with change, the more trust it builds, meaning changes are accepted more easily internally and externally – even when they are far-reaching ones. A company that does not communicate will suffer damage. And repairing an embattled reputation costs a lot of time and a lot of money.
You co-edited the book “Change 2.0”. What does the title mean?
Joachim Klewes: We borrowed a little from the buzz phrase “Web 2.0”, which has now been in circulation for a few years. Today, online tools offer people all over the world the chance to get involved and to communicate. And participation is one important part of change projects.
Ralf Langen: And clearly, modern online communication like blogs, wikis and forums offer organisations new ways to involve their employees actively into change processes. That’s also part of what our book is about.
Joachim Klewes is Senior Partner at Pleon, Europe’s leading communications agency, honorary professor at the Free University Berlin and Partner at the com.X Institute for Communications Research and Evaluation.
Ralf Langen is Partner at Pleon and Leader of the European Practice Group Change & Transformation. He is also a founding member of the European Centre for Reputation Studies (ECRS).
