Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER February 20, 2017 8 NEWS restructuring (39 per cent), downsizing or layoffs (35 per cent), job redesign (35 per cent), redesign of the physical office space (29 per cent) and mergers (15 per cent). "at's the nature of the world we live in, where change is the only constant," said Paula Allen, vice-president of research and integrative solutions at Morneau Shepell in Toronto. "Employers and HR profession- als who understand the impact of that change on their employees, and who find the best way to sup- port and empower them through the process, have a better chance at a healthier, more productive workforce." What's causing the stress? Typically, organizational change comes with a long list of un- knowns, which can be at the root of employee anxiety. "The first thing employees experience is uncertainty," said Allen. "Even if you're told the steps of what will happen in the change, you're not necessarily sure about what impact it will have on you." "For example, you might know that your department is going to come under another departmen- tal leader, but what does that mean for you? Under this new leader, will you have the same role? Will you have the same experience? How is your work situation going to be different?" Uncertainty can make workers feel the change is beyond their control, and that itself is a major stressor, she said. While employees experience change as stress, each person will process it differently, said Tom Morin, an organizational change management instructor at Mount Royal University in Calgary. "If we think of how a change could have a negative impact on someone, the impact will likely manifest in emotional, physiologi- cal or behavioural domains," said Morin. "If our response to stress is in excess of, or deviates too far from, what is acceptable to our employer, family and friends, or society in general, then one outcome may be time away from work." It's not an absolute, however, that organizational change and stress will lead to negative out- comes and sick time. While 40 per cent of respon- dents did report the changes negatively impacted their health, 25 to 28 per cent said their well- being and attitudes toward the workplace actually improved after the organizational change. Lag time between change, time off work a challenge Employers may not always con- nect the dots between organiza- tional change and time off work, said Allen, because there can be a significant lag time between the two events. "Sometimes, employers will only pay attention to employee responses to change for a short period of time," she said. "Usually, in that acute period of time, you won't see the impact in terms of time away from work. You'll see the impact in terms of job performance, errors or little bits of conflict in the workplace." Forty-three per cent of respon- dents to the survey said change had a negative impact on their perception of the company while 30 per cent indicated it had im- pacted their job performance. ese two factors — feeling bad about both the workplace and performance — on top of the stress from the change — could compound the problem and con- tribute to time away from work, said Allen. "The absenteeism definitely comes, it just comes later," she said, adding organizations track- ing absenteeism or disability will see spikes in their statistics after organizational change," she said. "It was a pretty clear path in our research." In tough economic times, when organizational change is ubiquitous, human resources teams are often under incredible pressure to develop and imple- ment some of the most disruptive organizational changes, accord- ing to Morin. "Just because HR professionals are aware of impacts to employee well-being doesn't mean that they have the ability within their cur- rent roles to adequately mitigate these impacts." An organization that ranks high both in terms of awareness and commitment to employee well-being will incorporate ways to mitigate or minimize the stress on those affected into its strategic change planning, said Stephen Flamer, a Vancouver-based con- sulting psychologist. Mitigate and manage stress through awareness, empathy ere are two key areas to consid- er when addressing the problem, according to Flamer. "First, how aware is the organi- zation that major changes such as mergers and downsizings have the potential to create stress for em- ployees and affect their psycho- logical well-being?" he said. "Second, to what extent is there a commitment to maintain or pro- mote the psychological well-being of employees, and to mitigate the expected or potential impact of stress related to organizational change?" Most HR professionals are generally aware of the impact of change on employees, said Allen. "Where we could improve, however, is to be a little more specific in terms of what it actu- ally means for people and how to mitigate that." An important early step is em- pathy: Consider what each em- ployee is going through. "I don't believe there is such a thing as a change-resistant personality," said Morin. "Some people resist some changes more than other people resist the same changes, but that's because the resistors are losing more than the accommodators." "We fear and grieve loss, and once we understand this and re- frame our thinking, we can direct change management resources toward understanding who is los- ing what." Sincerely engaging with people is one of the most important el- ements of any organizational change management effort, said Morin. A supportive culture helps em- ployees cope as well, according to Allen. "If you have that positive work environment where coworkers are supportive of each other and managers are helping with prob- lem-solving, then you have a plat- form of social support and coping skills that we know are strong pro- tective factors." Continuous communication, too, is critical. "Effective, clear, honest and ongoing communication prior to, during and after the orga- nizational changes is key," said Flamer. "Being informed about the changes, what to expect, the tim- ing of them, having regular up- dates and so on, all helps to reduce uncertainty." However, many times an em- ployer doesn't know all the details of a change, at least not at the out- set, said Allen. "Sometimes, it's just not pos- sible to get all that granular with the information," she said. "But I think it's important to continue to communicate hon- estly about what you do and don't know… What's uncomfortable from an employee's perspective is when you feel like the you're the one that's outside of the loop." Many employers will state all the things they're clear on, but then entirely avoid the areas where they don't have clear an- swers, she said. "at's not the best approach," said Allen. "You want to say, 'Yes there are unknowns but we'll work it through together. We want to hear from you.' at two-way conversa- tion is critical." Engaging, empowering employees helps people cope Getting employees actively in- volved in the organizational change can also have a tremen- dous impact on their levels of stress, said Allen. "Get them involved in the details of how the change gets executed, who moves to what position, who needs to be com- municated to, and so on," she said. "Having employees give that input helps give them that sense of control." In many organizations, the once-specialized skill of project management has now been wo- ven into the general competency of most knowledge workers, even if their roles aren't dedicated to project management, according to Morin. "If we now begin to move or- ganizational change manage- ment skills and knowledge into the competency profiles of every employee, then we may begin to experience less resistance to orga- nizational change." By enabling employees to have some control over how they man- age the organizational change that impacts them, they can become accountable for the success of the change, he said. "I'm seeing more people who may never work in HR or have roles dedicated to change man- agement, but who want to im- prove their own individual orga- nizational change management competency." Melissa Campeau is a Toronto-based freelance writer. Long-term effects often missed by HR CHANGE < pg. 1 "We fear and grieve loss, and once we understand this and reframe our thinking, we can direct change management resources to understanding the loss." LeNoury Law Proactive Advice to Management Employment Lawyer of The Year James LeNoury B.A. (Hons) M.A. LL.B 416-926-1107 • Toll Free 1-877-926-1107 • lenourylaw.com

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