A Mini Case Study – Part I
It is common for employees to be worried about change initiatives being launched within the organization. They are concerned about what it means for them personally – Will they lose their job? Will they have the skills they need to be successful? Part of the leader’s responsibility is guiding employees through the change and helping them to manage in times of chance.
Consider this case study. Jacklyn is VP of HR for a national healthcare company. The organization has been going through a number of changes over the last few years and it is getting increasingly difficult to engage the employees in change. Overall, the HR Directors have been doing a great job keeping staff throughout the organization engaged, but, it is getting more difficult. In particular, one of Jacklyn’s directors, Shawn, recently asked to meet with Jacklyn to discuss one of his employees. During the meeting, Shawn mentioned to Jacklyn that Allie, one of his longer term staff members, was having a particularly difficult time dealing with the current change initiative launched by leadership. She is unfocused at work and falling behind in meeting deadlines, has been in conflict with nearly all of her coworkers and is frequently coming in late to work. Shawn has tried talking with Allie, but hasn’t made any progress and he is worried that it is going to get worse. He wanted some advice on how to manage Allie and help her get through this change initiative.
Jacklyn suggested that Shawn meet with Allie again and find out what is going on with Allie. Rather than focusing on the issues, focus on Allie. If he can find out what was troubling Allie, he would better be able to help her adjust to the changes happening. Shawn said he would give it a try and left to schedule a meeting with Allie.
After the meeting with Jacklyn
Shawn went back to his office and called Allie to come by his office. When she arrived, he mentioned that he wanted to take her out to lunch to discuss some of the troubles she was having with her workload and with getting along with her employees. He wanted to find a way to help her get through this difficult period. Allie agreed to go to lunch with Shawn later that week.
At lunch with Allie
During lunch, Shawn said he wanted to talk about a couple of issues:
- Lack of productivity at work
- Arriving late to the office
- Conflicts with co-workers
He acknowledged that there was significant change happening at the office and that it is difficult to manage through so much change. He told Allie he wanted to help her but he needed to understand why she was so frustrated and stressed about this particular change initiative.
Allie’s story
Allie said that there were a number of issues she was dealing with. One was that her husband started a new job and she needed to wait for the kids to get on the school bus, and that was making her late for the office. She was trying to find another solution so she hadn’t mentioned anything yet. As for work, with the recent changes going on, she was taking on more responsibility and didn’t really have the skills she needed. She thought she could learn as she goes, but it was getting more difficult. She just couldn’t keep up with the workload and try to learn what she needed to at the same time.
Allie said she realized she needed to apologize to her co-workers. Because she was so stressed and frustrated, she was often snapping at them when they asked her a question or needed help on a task. She felt that they were all doing so much better than her with all the new responsibilities assigned and didn’t feel like she fit in with the group any longer.
What would you do if you were Shawn?
Part II of this mini case study will focus on steps Shawn decided to take to assist Allie through change.
