HR: How To Get Your Employees To Change For The Better

One of the most teething problems in the People or Human Resources space is getting people to make a change. This includes signing up for new benefit programs, using new HR systems, adopting new processes or even setting new performance goals. We face lots of inertia when we are trying to launch something new or change things, even it means better employee experience and higher productivity.

I remember in one of my people analytics projects, my team found (tested & proven) that changing a particular step in the claims reimbursement process will help to increase the overall efficiency by 43%. But when I shared this with the claims team, they were very reluctant to change how they work, even though they could fully appreciate and agree that this is going to help them.

Another time is the launch of a new financial benefit program. While we have shown and convinced others that this new program will take care of your financial well-being, the sign-up rate remains well below 20%. The feedback we got is mostly “Let me think about it…” or “Perfect! Give me some time to organize before I sign up” and you know it, nothing happens.

This really got me to research deep into this subject a few years ago. Is there a way we can get people to change? Is there a strategy or approach we can use to effectively convince others to try new things and change the way they work?

And after years of deep study in three companies I worked for, I have seen a consistent pattern when it comes to change management. There is indeed something that we can tap on and influence change with a much higher probability.

It has something to do with time, or rather timing. A simple example would be the start of the new year. Many of you would have new year’s resolutions, something like “Next year, I am going to lose 10kg of my weight with my new running routine”. And you are very likely to take action and execute it. (sustaining it is another problem by itself, but you get my point)

People are more open to change at very specific times than any random Tuesday. These are time periods that are meaningful and significant to them. The start of the new year is a time period that people are more likely to accept and action change.

I call these time periods, “Time Events”. And there are two types of time events, the Common Time Events and the Personal Time Events.

Common Time Events

The new year’s resolution is an example of a common time event. It is a common event for everyone in the group. It happens at the same time for everyone. So common time events include, start of the month, start of the financial quarter, start of the new executive management team, IPO, the new government and many more. These are events that are common for a large group of people.

So at these time events, people expect and become more open to change. They are more likely to take action than other times. A change in how claims will be processed will be more acceptable and somehow “feasible” at the start of the new fiscal year or the start of a new department.

People are more likely to read up on the new benefit policy at these times and more willing to consider reviewing and changing their plans. As you can see, common time events are good opportunities to roll out new changes or start new projects or initiatives. This will greatly increase the public awareness as well as the overall response from the crowd.

Personal Time Events

There are so time events specific to individuals as well. They are different from person to person. Birthdays, having a new child, work anniversaries, marriage, promotion, transferring to a new role are personal time events where people find them meaningful and therefore open to change.

When you have a new child, you will be thinking about changing your spending habits, starting a new saving accounts, buying a new car, changing your morning exercise routine. When you are promoted, you will be thinking how to change the way you work, how you can do more, how you can change to help others in your new team.

Again, these are good opportunities to advocate for change. I remember in one of our career development research, we simply asked the managers to have a 1 to 1 meeting with their team members on their birthdays to understand more about their aspirations and align their work expectations. The results were astounding, not only that overall work performance went up but employee engagement went up as well, all because of the “timely” conversations they had with their managers.

The take up rate for new childcare benefits went up by 3 folds, when we sent the e-brochure when employees have new additions to their families, compared to a one time all-employees communication. The sharing of this information is timely, relevant and intimate. That’s when employees feel that they are supported and appreciate how well they are taken care of in the company.

From these examples, you can see how timing can help to increase the impact of the hard work the HR teams are doing. And we all know change is the key to personal and organizational improvements. High performers are known to embrace change, and the truth is, they have more of such time events and they have leveraged them well. My research has shown that 81% of the high performances have weekly goals and frequent regular reviews of their work. These have allowed them to be open to change and therefore better work performance.

To sum it all up, all new initiatives, change programs and overall performance all boils down to time events. The more time events you have, the more you can leverage during these times, the more successful your work will be.