Most managers know that they need to implement effective change management if their organizations are to survive. Unfortunately, at most companies and agencies change management is nothing but a catchphrase.

In these organizations, managers and leaders are constantly talking about change management but actual change never occurs. Or worse the change that occurs is necessitated by outside forces such as lost market share, budget cuts and competition. These efforts fail because nobody tries to make change management a reality.

What Change Management Really Is

Many people fail to implement change management because they do not realize what it is really. Change management simply means taking control of the situation. Those who do not manage change, let change manage them and their organizations.

Effective leaders know all about change management because they do it every day. Ineffective leaders turn it into a catchphrase, because all they do is react to the changes rather than try to implement them. Generally, these leaders fail when competitors led by effective leaders that understand change management enter the market.

Implementing Effective Change Management

Fortunately there are actions that leadership teams can take to create a culture of effective change management within their organizations. These actions include:

• Leadership Development Programs – This means an active effort to identify individuals who could develop into effective leaders and give them the skills, leadership training and guidance they need to be leaders. Such an effort involves much more than management training. It means an active effort to identify leaders and mentorship to give potential leaders support.

• Employee Engagement – This means getting the employees involved in the company and more importantly getting employees to care about the organization. If employees are not engaged they will care about the organization and they will resist change management. It also means getting every employee actively involved in the change management process.

• Employee Surveys – These are vital for efforts to improve employee engagement. A management team must know what the employees think and understand their attitudes in order to effectively implement changes. Employee engagement efforts without surveys usually fail.

• Management Training- In order to turn an organization around you will need managers with the latest skills and training. Giving the managers and leaders you have management training and leadership training will always be more cost effective than bringing in outsiders.