Helping organisations through change

by | Oct 12, 2023 | Talent mobility, world of work | 0 comments

Helping organisations through change is a core part of Chiumento’s mission.

We are undoubtedly best known as an outplacement business. However it would be wrong to think we only get involved in the final stages of change programmes. We support our clients in many different ways – and right through the change lifecycle.

Let’s start at the beginning…

One of our capabilities is supporting leadership teams think through the need for organisational change. We have a history of facilitating Board and Leadership Team discussions about why change is needed. Helping them avoid the pitfall of just “re-shuffling the deckchairs” rather than digging into the deep rooted organisational issues driving the need for change.

A recent project in the US saw us going back to even more fundamental issues like “what sort of a business are we?” That wasn’t about their products or services. It was more fundamental.  For example, “are we an operations excellence, customer intimacy, expert or innovation business?” Helping that organisation to understand how that fundamental decision would shape their structure and culture added huge insight.

At times our work has also involved expanding thinking too – for example introducing top teams to concepts like “blue ocean strategy”. Looking beyond their competitors and “home market” to look for new and better ways to do things.

What we’ve also done is help individual executives decide if they want to be part of the journey ahead. Helping CEOs and their Boards ensure cohesive leadership on the journey ahead.

Leading through change

Our work in this space comes in two main forms. Firstly we run training events for line managers and leaders who are about to take their teams through restructures and reorganisations. These can take forms from webinars to full day workshops.

Our starting point is the emotional response to change. Helping leaders understand the full spectrum of responses they are likely to encounter from anger to denial and excitement. We explore how trust is the defining quality in change situations. We define trust and help individuals recognise and develop the four key attributes they have to master to be an effective leader. We also look at communication and “delivering the news”.

Sometimes individual leaders need help. Our coaching team can be on hand to support them through change projects. Building their resilience and looking at how their capabilities and behaviours have to change to transition into the future organisation.

Along this path we will almost inevitably discover leaders who can’t make the journey. Our coaches help them to make critical decisions about their own futures.

Understanding change

We also help individuals impacted by change. For example, we often run webinars or workshops helping individuals to come to terms with the changes ahead.

Often there is a long path between announcements and implementation. We help build resilience to navigate through the uncertainty. Ensuring individuals stay focused and avoid drops in productivity and customer service.

Change also means choices. For example, do individuals take advantage of offers of voluntary redundancy? Chiumento experts can help your people make informed decisions.

If the outcome is an exit from the business…

We can help with putting a communications plan in place. We also run awareness sessions explaining the outplacement support available.

We have outplacement solutions to meet all budgets and all levels of the organisation. We’ll tailor the right solution for your people.

Survivor management

Helping organisations through change also means supporting the “survivors”. Those who will be carrying on into the new world.

We’ve helped clients to re-build trust and re-energise teams after major change programmes. We also help organisations avoid the major barriers to successful and sustainable implementation of change programmes. Making the initial changes to systems, processes, structures and technologies is one thing. Embedding them long term can be another challenge altogether.

Summary

If you are planning a change programme and need help to implement it talk to us. We do a lot more to help organisations through change than you may think.