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Editor: Dr. Wolf J. Rinke
Publisher: Wolf Rinke Associates, Inc.
(c) 2003 Wolf J. Rinke
Vol. 6 No. 2, April/May 2003
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IN THIS ISSUE
1. NEWS YOU CAN USE
2. HOW TO MANAGE CHANGE--PART II
3. HOT OFF THE PRESS--LAST CHANCE
4. HUMOR BREAK
5. ABOUT THE EDITOR
6. PRIVACY STATEMENT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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REALITY CHECK
"If you lead through fear you will have little to respect; but
if you lead through respect you will have little to fear."
--Anonymous
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1. NEWS YOU CAN USE
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STOP THE OBSCENITY
US Airways CEO David Siegel "exacted steep pay and benefit cuts
from airline employees [while he] received about $1.45 million in salary
and bonuses last year, almost double the compensation that his predecessor…was
paid in 2001" (That's an exact quote.) And we wonder why employees
are cynical and demotivated. As far as I'm concerned it is a wonder
that they show up for work at all.
ACTION STEPS:
Lead by example, period! There is absolutely nothing wrong with cutting
employees pay--after all times are tough--if, and here comes the BIG
IF, the leaders are willing to take a proportionate cut in pay.
Source: The Washington Post. Apr. 04, pp. E1 &E6.
DEMAND FOR MANAGERS IS INCREASING
It's hard to believe however, according to the latest survey by Management
Recruiters International (MRI) "executives, mid-to-upper level
managers, professionals and sales and marketing people can anticipate
increased demand for their services during the first half of 2003."
Of the 630 executives surveyed, 45.2 percent plan to hire more people,
48.9 percent plan to maintain their current staffing levels, and only
5.9 percent plan to decrease their staffing levels during the first
half of 2003. The healthcare and finance industries expect to increase
new hires by 60+ percent, non-profit, government, education, construction
and manufacturing by 40+ percent and machinery, business services, advertising,
marketing and telecommunications by 30+ percent.
ACTION STEPS
Stay positive, especially if you are looking for a new job. Times are
getting better. (You heard it here first!)
Source: MRI News release, no date. For specifics go to Karen.Bloomfield@BrilliantPeople.com
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2. HOW TO MANAGE CHANGE-PART II
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In the last issue of this eNewsletter you learned that all people respond
to change in seven predictable ways. We all tend to…
--Focus on what we must give up
--Prefer the status quo
--Perceive that we are in it alone
--Resist change more when we don't trust or like the change agent
--Accept change differently
--Feel inadequate, awkward, ill equipped, and uncomfortable
--Revert to old behaviors unless we have made the new behavior a habit
In this issue you'll discover four specific steps to take if you want
to make a major change in your organization.
Step 1: Mobilize Commitment by Creating a Powerful Sense of Urgency
This step seems the easiest but by all indications is the step that
is most often messed up. In fact, research shows that about 50 percent
of all companies fail in their change efforts because they don't create
a sufficient sense of urgency. Let's face it: Most of us would rather
deal with what we know--even if what we know is bad for us--rather than
chart the course of unknown territories. The reality is that fundamental
change, the kind of change that most organizations must pursue in order
to stay competitive, can't be accomplished incrementally. Fundamental
change will only come about if virtually all of the management team
and most employees feel a sense of urgency and are motivated to change
because not changing has greater negative consequences than maintaining
the status quo. To accomplish that level of urgency requires a real
or imagined crisis or a major opportunity that, if not taken, has the
potential to challenge the survival of the organization and its members.
My experience has been that step 1 requires critical mass of about 80
percent of the management team and about 66 percent of employees, especially
the team members who make things happen.
Caution: Taking shortcuts with step 1 will likely cause the change initiative
to fail!
Step 2: Tailor the Change to Fit the Situation
It may be obvious, but every organization is different. Therefore, it
is highly unlikely that change initiative that worked for you in company
A will work in company B. It is critical that the change process be
structured so that change occurs at a rate that is compatible with an
organization's ability to assimilate change. To accomplish that observe
the following three rules:
Rule 1: Team members' willingness to change is positively correlated
with the anticipated benefit or the perceived severity of the personal
loss. In other words, the greater the perceived benefit or crisis, the
greater the willingness to change.
Rule 2: The more often individuals are subjected to change, the greater
their acceptance of change. This rule makes a strong case for implementing
some sort of change on an ongoing basis, provided, of course, that the
change does not reduce your competitive posture.
Rule 3: Individuals are more tolerant of change that they have had
an opportunity to understand and/or participate in. This rule provides
you with lots of incentive to involve people in the change process.
Caution: Utilizing off-the-shelf change approaches or consultants who
utilize the same approach with every organization will likely lead to
failure.
Step 3: Assemble a Powerful Change Action Team
The senior leader must assemble a change action team that represents
all of the key stakeholders and those who are passionate about the change.
I recommend that at a minimum this team be led by the organization's
leader (president or CEO if the change affects the entire company, the
general manager if the change affects only one division, and so on)
and consist of key members of the senior executive team, board representative(s),
employee representative(s) (head of the union and/or other employee
opinion shapers regardless of rank), and customer representative(s).
The size of the team depends, of course, on the size of the organization.
As a guideline, however, this team should be big enough to represent
key stakeholders. On the other hand, it should be small enough to be
functional. As a guideline, research has established that the ideal
group consists of five individuals.
Caution: Delegating responsibilities for leading the change action team
will likely lead to failure.
Step 4: Create a Vision of the New Future
A vision that is simple, easy to understand, compelling, and able to
communicate a clear picture of the new future is absolutely critical
to the success of this intervention. (If you would like help with this
read Winning Management: 6 Fail-Safe Strategies for Building High-Performance
Organizations, by yours truly.)
Caution: The change action team needs to get back to the drawing board
if the vision consists of more than three sentences, takes longer than
two minutes to explain and does not result in excitement and passion
by front-line team members.
Look for Steps 5-9 in the next issue of this eNL.
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3. HOT OFF THE PRESS--LAST CHANCE
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4. HUMOR BREAK
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A customer received the following e-mail from a company he had ordered
from:
"We cannot fill your order until your previous order has been paid."
Customer e-mailed back:
"Cancel my order. I can't afford to wait that long."
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For FREE articles, inspirational messages and money saving offers on
books, audio and videotapes that will help you and your organization
succeed FASTER visit: http://www.WolfRinke.com
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6. ABOUT THE EDITOR
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Dr. Wolf J. Rinke, CSP is an internationally recognized management and
motivational keynote speaker and seminar leader who delivers customized
presentations that combine story telling, humor and motivation with
specific "how to" action strategies that participants can
apply immediately to improve their management and personal effectiveness.
He is also a highly effective management consultant, executive coach
and author of 12 books including: Winning Management: 6 Fail-Safe Strategies
for Building High-Performance Organizations available at www.WolfRinke.com
To take advantage of Dr. Rinke's services call 800-828-9653 or mailto:WolfRinke@aol.com
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7. PRIVACY STATEMENT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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