Concerns are also heightened when some changes are outside of the control of individual organisations or may even result in the organisations they work for being abolished.
Our staff engagement in tough times page signposts you to useful resources, case studies and information to help you lead and support staff through the changes.
There are some actions that can be taken to mitigate the impact of change and seek to engage staff.
1. Communicate well
2. Tackle change fatigue
3. Listen to concerns
4. Dealing with the impact on individual managers
5. Resilience
6. Maintaining engagement during change
Staff response to change will depend partly on how the case for the change is communicated. In some cases organisations are facing an external change over which they will have little direct control e.g. abolition. In others, the organisation itself has decided to take action such as service reconfiguration and in some cases there will be a mix of externally imposed and internally directed change e.g. mergers of community services.
In areas where the change is external, the organisation needs to make clear that the scope it has to influence decisions is limited but communicate as much as it can about implementation. Where the change is one the organisation has chosen, senior leaders need to develop a clear "case for change" by highlighting both the positive benefits of change and the risk of not changing, such as business failure.
In the case of mergers in particular, a new 'sense of purpose' needs to be generated for the new organisation to avoid feelings of takeover/loss. Evidence from the commercial sector suggests that this process can take up to 18 months. HR can play a vital role through induction briefing with staff in the smaller organisation.
Tackle 'change fatigue'
Many staff will have seen many proposals for change before and may be suffering from change fatigue and be sceptical of new proposals. Even if not all staff can be convinced, successful organisations should seek to engage with staff around their proposals and take on board feedback where possible.
This means more than just formal consultation and there are a range of methods available for involving staff in such decisions. It is sometimes said that staff do not resist their own ideas and although not always possible to follow staff aspirations, organisations that have involved staff have generally found it can help deliver better outcomes.
Listen to concerns
Staff organisations can play a vital role in periods of change and reassure staff that their concerns are being heard. It may be difficult in maintaining relationships where staff organisations have opposed the change in principle but organisations should seek to keep dialogue open around implementation even where there has been debate over the change itself.
Research by the UK Work Organisation Network in the energy sector has highlighted the value of partnership working with staff organisations during the major restructuring in this sector. BT was able to maintain good working relationships with its unions during its most recent restructuring despite taking decisions they were opposed to e.g. on its pension scheme.
The UK Work Organisation Network has developed an analytical resource kit to assist with dealing with organisational change.
Dealing with the impact on individual managers
Individual managers are of course affected by change directly themselves and may be particularly at risk due to a desire to reduce administrative costs. They feel at risk and this will undermine their ability and willingness to engage with staff.
There are a range of steps that organisations can take to assist their managers during such periods.
First, be as clear as possible about the impact on managers and, if managerial posts are to be lost, seek to agree appropriate policies in line with national HR and local guidance where applicable.
Second, help managers build up their ability to cope with change through increasing their own skills. This can be skills in coping with change through techniques such as mentoring/coaching. Setting up informal networks for managers faced with change and using value for money collaborative coaching techniques can be relatively low cost responses.
Where posts may be moved through increasing their "transferable competencies" - i.e. skills which could assist them in gaining a job in another part of the organisation or even in another organisation - the NHS KSF and NVQ framework should assist here and a skills audit can help identify the skills available.
Even in a situation of contraction in public service employment the size of the NHS means opportunities may still be available if individuals feel able to apply for a wider range of posts. It is essential that vital skills are not lost to the service. For example, although PCTs as commissioning organisations are in transition, commissioning skills remain essential.
Through these type of measures organisations can assist their managers to feel able to cope better themselves and thereby help staff deal with organisational change. Personal resilience in time of change can be a challenge but is a key task especially for senior leaders.
Resilience
One way of dealing with change is to build up the ability to cope with the processes of change itself through organisational and personal resilience. The concept of resilience was originally developed to look at how organisations dealt with emergencies. There is now a considerable amount of current research and debate over how to increase resilience for individuals and organisations in periods of rapid change.
UKWON has also produced some tools and resources to help you build resilience in your organisation.
Organisational Resilience can be developed in a number of ways. South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust responded to the range of changes it was facing by investing in leadership development for middle managers through a training programme called the "middle ground", which sought to help leaders at all levels deal with change. This led to a growth in confidence among line managers. At the same time, it increased investment in health and well-being for staff, which helped reduce its absence levels.
It is also important to address health and well-being issues during a period of change as these have been shown to affect engagement. There are a range of resources on our health and well-being pages.
The pace and scale of change in the NHS is increasing and may seem overwhelming to staff. Unlike in some other sectors where major change has taken place, most of the staff that the NHS needs to deliver these changes are already working for it and will continue to do so.
The NHS therefore needs to engage staff around change. Organisations can seek to convey the case for change in a way which seeks to take staff with them.
This means being consistent in messages and communication, building trust through acting with integrity and being open about risks. The evidence from public service organisations is that maintaining a focus on delivery during change is key to motivating staff. Despite the range of changes in the NHS, our priority will continue to be the provision of high quality healthcare services.
Our staff engagement toolkit
Our click and go staff engagement toolkit is your one stop shop for the latest tips, tools and research on staff engagement.
Access the toolkit.