Presentation to Leadership Forum Change Leadership and Management David Keenan Chief Executive Officer SDRC

Where you spend your time

Change “An act or process through which something becomes different” Is there a second, a minute, an hour, a day or a week in any workforce or business where change is not occurring? Change is bad? Change is good? Change is inevitable, so seek to benefit from change

Change in Leadership Review and evaluate Look, listen and learn Acknowledge competitors and best practice New perspectives Provides hope Sets new objectives Vision, horizon setting Growing staff

Change in Management Continuous improvement Innovation Developing staff Watching for bullying Looking to the future Change in the Manager – What are you doing? – What do you want to be

“Change” in an Organisation Organisational change occurs when a Council or organisation makes a transition from its current state to some desired future state. Managing organizational change is the process of – planning and implementing change in organisations in such a way as to obtain support from the Board or Council, – minimize employee resistance, – encourage employee empowerment – limiting cost to the organisation while simultaneously maximizing the effectiveness of the change effort Dealing with Change should be an enthusiastic and innovative process, but often is not

Change in a Person Values Self belief Recognise change Want to change Decide to change Reflect on change Each of us change each day

Responses to Change

Responding to Change “this is how we have always done it here” (But we are open to ideas?) “in the past, we/I have ” (In the past my teachers smoked in class) “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” (Let’s wait until is it completely and caused a bigger problem) “you will need to ask Bob, he is the only one who knows about..” (Employee reincarnation, bring him back!) “we tried that once....” (I only ever try anything once, I promise) “things will never change here, it is the culture” (Who creates the culture, who is part of the culture and who owns the culture?) “the last person who tried to change the system is now working at....” (Perhaps they went to a place that embraced change) “the other Council down the road tried that and ” (Benchmarks can be easy to pick when you know what you are after) It is important to celebrate the success and learn from the failures

Expecting Change Some employees hope for “change” Some employees hope for “no change” Some employees embrace change Some employees reject change Everyone wants to travel down the change path? The challenges of an older workplace Some changes do not match expectations Remember, don’t hope, don’t think, DO

Managing Change Leaders look carefully at; – Stability versus risk – Certainty versus uncertainty – Tradition versus innovation – Past versus future The opportunity to improve can only occur through change, a process of continuous improvement The potential to fail is increased by taking no action Success can only be attributed to managing change and encouraging improvement

Types of Change Wholesale change – Disruption and fear – Loss of productivity Constant change – Unrelenting – Instability Planned change – Empowerment and enthusiasm – Understanding and ownership Gradual/Incremental change – Ownership and stability – Slow shift in culture – Can lose support

Timing Change Identify the existing change points or processes – Local Government or Board Elections – Budget and Long Term Financial Plans – Corporate Planning – Enterprise Bargaining – Reviews and Inquiries by other levels of Government – Changes with competitors – Vacancies in the workforce, especially key roles Remember slowly, slowly catch the monkey

Pace and Planning of Change Due Diligence Know your people and what you do (business improvement) Establish where you want the organisation to be Create the vision, the pathway, the map

Strategies for Change Build a platform, a foundation, a benchmark Use data – Facts, figures, feedback and forecasts (tangibles) Create awareness – use effective messaging, facilitate ownership, demonstrate opportunities, be present Encourage feedback and recognise where feedback has been utilised to achieve new outcomes (budget efficiencies) Make change achievable and realistic Speak to people, update people, reassure people Review change, what worked, what did not Remember some facts have been legends that have been myths and are not really facts at all

The Role of Board Members in Change All corporate planning documents should incorporate and recognise change Change should be accommodated or forecasted through strategic planning Operational change should be identified through business planning Board members are the conduit to the community or your customers – Support for change – Resistance to change – Innovation required

The Role of Board Members in Change Audit and Risk Management Committees – Determine the appetite for risk – Review of services through internal Audit Advocacy Budget and financial planning Supporting staff Managing Resistance Reports Ownership of Change Change breaks glasses

Change and External Stakeholders Communication/Consultation Do not spend time on trying convert the unconvertible Empowerment – Change the paradigm Review Communication – Not all social media is applicable

Embracing Change Leaders and Managers are change agents Change will impact on staff and stakeholders in different ways Where possible manage and plan for change Use existing tools and events to introduce and evaluate change Change is usually positive if it is planned, communicated and reviewed