Quy Huy, professor of strategic management at the INSEAD business school, described the following four ways of implementing changes in a company.
1. Autocratic approach
An impatient Jack Welch always used this method. A small group of senior leaders drives change and expects compliance from the rest of the company. No attempt is made to seek consensus. Instead, threats coming from outside the company are used to justify the fast pace of the change. The underlying feeling is that the company can survive only if the change is carried out urgently.
But don’t use this approach if you need a lasting qualitative change in company culture or the mindsets of your employees.
2. Redesign of the organisation
The cornerstone of this approach is new design of work processes. A recent example would be digitalisation. The change is led by organisational designers who guide and develop employees. With new skills, productivity and efficiency is improved.
These first two modes define success in purely quantitative terms, which is basically about the improvement of economic performance as soon as possible. For the latter approach, trust is necessary since change agents need workers to share their tacit knowledge about their workplace tasks.
3. Teaching intervention
In this approach, employees are engaged. This intervention is usually used when a company is perceived as suffering from ineffectiveness stemming from the belief systems of employees. Trained process consultants, coaches and psychoanalysts from outside the company are best equipped to lead the change. External experts can spot problematic assumptions easily since they are not so strongly influenced by the existing company culture.
In this case, be careful about the pace. If the process is rushed, employees will not be able to make sense of what it is all about. They can then sabotage the change efforts. Teaching demands a longer time.
4. Longer-term shift
This is aimed at improving the quality of interpersonal relationships. It is successful when led by influential employees who act as role models for others. They should engage in conversations with others in order to make them feel empowered and supported.
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