A Tried and Tested, Data-Driven Solution to Build Change Readiness
Project Overview
After a leading American research-based biopharmaceutical company brought together their Regulatory, Safety and Quality organisations as a unified Development Organisation, they invested in developing their strategy and ways of working to drive a unified function. Although in name they were united, people felt that they were still operating in silos and were not able to articulate a shared culture. As a result, change readiness was low and people reported feelings of change fatigue, concerns of psychological safety and a lack of clarity for why things were changing. With no clear reason as to why groups were feeling this way, it was imperative to the change program to find the root cause of this resistance before progressing further.
Our Solution
Afiniti partnered with the biopharmaceutical company to support them on their change journey, developing their capability to communicate change effectively and equipping leaders to build a change ready culture, bringing people along on the change journey. Using our data-driven approach, we were able to evidence the reasoning for the resistance and strategise new change communications and engagement plans to guide them through the change, engaging their teams in a way that they had not been able to do previously.
- Initially, we ran discovery interviews and identified common themes associated with change resistance. To validate these, we used our tried and tested 6LeverTM diagnostic tool, producing rich qualitative data.
- The 6LeverTM tool identified a very strong leadership team with a clear vision. However, this wasn’t translated to the levels below the leadership team, identifying a need for leaders to be more visible in the onward engagement strategy, with clear feedback loops punctuated with engaging, bite-sized communications and learning.
- We used the results from the 6LeverTM tool to drive forward a new communication and engagement strategy. The new strategy has a focus on consistent messaging to increase reliability and trust in the messaging, as well as feedback loops so those outside of the leadership team are still able to be engaged with the change.
- The results were also broken down for each function, allowing us to pinpoint areas for development as well as providing each group with three key recommendations for improving change readiness in their area. This was in addition to the overall strategy and created a tailored engagement plan to ensure individuals were receiving messaging that was relevant to them.
- To support the leadership team get ready to shape the change and become role models for the change, we created a Leaders’ Communication Toolkit to equip them with the tools to effectively communicate compelling change messages.
- We established a Change Leaders’ Network that co-collaborated on the design of the communications toolkit and engagement of the wider RSQ community, ensuring that consistent and unified change messages are relayed from the leadership team down and that the feedback from the RSQ community is communicated and heard by the leaders. This feedback loop ensures that lessons are learned and the approach to change stays connected, relevant and impactful.
The Differences We Made
- From the 6LeverTM tool we were able to evidence leaders would benefit from a unified change communications approach with more leadership visibility. Having the facts and figures to evidence this supported some meaningful dialogue in the team, opening the opportunity to prioritise and structure their change strategy and putting them in a better change readiness position.
- Through the use of consistent messaging and creation of feedback loops we are helping them build change resilience across the business, making them more prepared for the change and increasing their understanding of why the change is needed.
- Change communications and engagement are now a priority for the leadership team and they are working in partnership with us to communicate change more effectively. Next, we will be supporting a leadership event, where we will focus on change readiness and the progress we have made.
- Our work is still ongoing and we will continue to support them building change capabilities with a look to measure distance travelled in the near future.
Experiencing change resistance in your organisation? Take a sample version of our 6LeverTM assessment tool today and identify areas of priority for you. Or, reach out to a member of the Afiniti team to discuss your change requirements.
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