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Managing Growth and Change by Managing Diversity and MultiGenerational Issues at Work

Written by Katy Goshtasbi

Posted on: April 3, 2018

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In any organization, law firm, government entity or non-profit, growth should be the number one goal. Otherwise, why would your entity exist? If you are not growing, then you are stagnating and your brand is becoming washed up, irrelevant and unrecognizable to those you want to serve.

The real issue then becomes leading (instead of managing) change and transformation. Why? Without change and transformation there is no growth. With it, your entity can grow by utilizing your diverse employee pool and having multiple generations work well together to sustain this growth in a healthy way.

I remember all my years as a lawyer in corporate America. Every organization I worked for, including the federal government, was a fan of growth and wanted it. Not many wanted to deal with any change that leads to this growth. It was too much and too hard. We are creatures of comfort and habit. It helps to keep our anxiety in check and our fears at bay.

I know this too well. In the span of two months, my entire company brand got an overhaul AND we moved our home. There is so much change around me, it’s overwhelming for sure. Some days, I miss the way things were- they were easy and predictable. And that’s coming from me, the change expert.

So what’s an organization to do? The solution is simple, and not always easy.

It’s a change in mindset that has to happen and that’s all that’s needed- will your organization’s leadership be willing to envision growth and change and embrace them both AND do the legwork necessary to harness employees well to achieve that growth.

If your organization is not willing to choose a new perspective and choose to see things differently, then there is no growth possible. That also means that there’s no way that diversity and multigenerational employees are well utilized.
If you can’t start by seeing things differently, then odds are that your organization will also never see the value of diverse and multigenerational employees. Different is different and change is change. If you can’t embrace change, then you can’t embrace differences in your employee pool either.

I look at an organization I just hired to do a major chunk of work for our company. This organization had a very specific speciality, which is why we hired them. However, I was very clear in letting them know that we were a bit different than other organizations they had worked with and were they ok with that. They all said yes, but from the process, I could tell they were very myopic and doing things the same old way, even though I was a different client. How did I know? Because every time we hit a challenge, they would say, “We don’t know how to proceed. Our other clients never had this issue.” Of course, your other clients didn’t have this issue, because we are different. So are you willing to choose to see things differently and do it different- really, do you want more clients like me or not?

What does this mean for you and your organization? Stop and ask yourself:

-How flexible is your organization around change?
-Do you have an intentional and measurable growth plan that fully evaluates ALL your employees for their strengths?

Call or email with any questions you may have. Also feel free to download my guide on change and growth.

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TOP 3 COMPANY EMPLOYEE BRANDING PROBLEMS THAT COME WITH INTERNAL COMPANY CHANGES

Written by Katy Goshtasbi

Posted on: June 6, 2016

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Within organizations the one thing you can count on is change. Change is inevitable.

It comes often and is often painful. In the branding world, change is an indicator of brand flexibility: brands that go with change, evolve and survive to thrive. Brands that don’t bend with the wind, die out.

What kind of changes are we talking about? Such changes include a) reorganizational changes of any kind, like changes in management, buy-outs, downsizing due to economic factors or due to innovation b) technological changes leading to obsolescence c) pure economy dictated changes.

What do all these changes involve? Employees. Your best advantage and greatest asset- your talent pool.

Here’s the problem: The 2013 Gallup State of the Global Workplace report found that only 13% of employees are engaged at work. Engagement equals productivity.  

So what are the hurdles to employee engagement and productivity due to change? Here’s what I’ve found happens when there is any internal change- and there will always be internal change:

  1. There is a fundamental shift in brand values due to change in management- often this is accompanied by mass confusion, often subconscious, among the employee pool. Why? Read on.
  2. There is no focus on the notion of building the “internal” brand first- since the brand of the employees/agents is behind the company brand and comes first, it pays to develop the employee brand first- this involves direct communication to the employees and inclusion of the employees in the brand value process. Leadership must engage employees in the exercise of discovering their values that coincide with the shift in brand values of the new management.
  3. There is a strong possibility that employees/agents go rogue and drift away from the corporate brand representation.

So what is management supposed to do about this? The first step is that “management” needs to stop thinking like “management” and start thinking like “leadership”. This means first and foremost having conscious awareness that a shift has occurred. This shift may not be well understood or accepted by your employees.

Next, leadership needs to take steps to make sure the brand values shift is a) communicated well and b) open to revision by employees c) based on the ability to have the employees develop their own brand values and contribute to the new direction of the company’s brand. This is where I come in to assist the leadership team.

What happens if management does not become leadership and apply these steps? From my experience, the best that can happen is employees leave the company. The worst that can happen is that employees stay, become disgruntled which in turn leads to apathy, lack of productivity, and low morale. All of this inevitably leads to a decline in profits.

So what does this mean for you?

If your organization is going through change, make sure you consider your employee brand values. They must be in sync with your organizational shifts and the brand value changes they bring. These changes must be communicated to your employees and your employees given the ability to participate in creating the evolved organizational brand culture.

 

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