Did you know that engaging employees in change processes can increase their productivity by 22% and improve a company's bottom line by 21%?
Change in organizations is often associated with challenges and resistance. Traditionally, a new strategy or transformation is thought to require the imposition of new rules, which raises natural opposition. Meanwhile, an approach based on employee engagement not only minimizes this resistance, but makes them active partners in change. Studies show that companies that effectively engage their employees achieve better financial performance, greater innovation and higher levels of team satisfaction.
Why involve employees in change processes?
Change management is one of the biggest challenges leaders face. According to McKinsey & Company, as many as 70% of transformation initiatives fail, mainly due to a lack of employee engagement.
But when employees have a real say in the direction of change, the success rate rises to as much as 80%. Why? Because they feel responsible for the outcome, and their knowledge and experience allow them to implement new solutions more effectively.
Key benefits of employee engagement:
● Better adaptation to change - companies that engage employees reduce resistance to change by 33%.
● More innovation - engaged employees report 41% more ideas for process improvements.
● Increased productivity - employees who feel they have an impact on the organization are, on average, 22% more productive.
● Improving talent retention - organizations with high levels of engagement have 59% lower employee turnover rates.
What methods of engaging employees in change are most effective?
Engaging employees is not a one-time action - it's a process that requires strategy and consistency. Here are proven methods that allow companies to successfully implement change:
1. transparent communication
Companies that regularly communicate the reasons for change and clearly define goals achieve 47% better transformation results. Employees need to understand why the changes are being made and how they will affect their daily work.
2. active involvement in decision-making processes
Research shows that employees who participate in decision-making are 34% more likely to support it. Holding workshops, brainstorming sessions or surveys gives them real influence in shaping new solutions.
3. use of technology to collect feedback
Modern tools, such as Sherlock Waste, allow employees to quickly and efficiently collect ideas, their proposed improvements, and submit challenges with ideas for solving them. The tool also makes it possible to assign responsibility for implementing changes, monitor progress and transparently communicate results. As a result, the improvement process becomes continuous and employee engagement increases.
4. investment in development and training
Companies that invest in the development of their teams are 58% more likely to have a successful transition. Employees need to feel that their new skills and knowledge will help them in their daily work.
Organizational culture as a foundation for commitment and improvement
Organizations that build a culture based on openness, trust and transparency record up to 37% higher levels of team engagement. An organizational culture should support open communication, acceptance of new ideas and employee initiative.
A culture of continuous improvement is an approach in which an organization continually strives to optimize its processes and innovate. According to the Lean Enterprise Institute, organizations that implement a continuous improvement philosophy increase their operational efficiency by up to 40%. Leaders should not only encourage ideas, but also implement mechanisms to reward innovation and allow experimentation with new solutions.
How did L'Oréal engage more than 55% of its employees in continuous improvement?
" L'Oréal BEST' s Warsaw office, as one of its financial process business centers, began its transformation closely aligned with a culture of continuous improvement back in 2021. One of the elements of this transformation was, of course, Lean Six Sigma training to improve skills in identifying process improvements. We realized very quickly that we needed an additional mechanism to facilitate the flow of problems and ideas between different departments. The Sherlock Waste tool fully covered this need, taking into account, of course, the gamification element, further motivating employees to share knowledge.
Nevertheless, Sherlock Waste is just a tool that needs to be properly implemented in a given company. I think our success largely depends precisely on everything we did around this tool. First of all, we focused on designing the entire continuous improvement process, where Sherlock Waste was simply one element of it. A key idea was to involve employees from different departments in the workshop, from less experienced people all the way up to the board of directors - so we didn't overlook any key needs. Quite quickly we reached a culture where the majority of Our employees (>50%) were already part of the continuous improvement process. To date, this has been a key indicator of success for Us, as the commitment and motivation of Our employees is the most important thing for Us, and the business benefits themselves are always the result of this commitment anyway.
The biggest challenge for us was to maintain such a high level of engagement over time, especially in such a dynamic environment as simply large corporations. Here, adapting the entire process (as well as Sherlock Waste tool) to structural changes locally and globally proved to be crucial. Today, we can confidently say that the Sherlock Waste tool itself is simply different than it was at the beginning of our journey, while continuing to keep the commitment of Our employees high. Therefore, the measure of Our success has been to build an entire process that can be modified every year, rather than just implementing the tool, hoping for a one-time effort and sustained, multi-year success."
Marek Smarkusz, Delivery Excellence Manager at L'Oréal Business Expertise Services & Technology Center (BEST)
How does Sherlock Waste support organizations in engaging employees?
Sherlock Waste is a tool that helps companies take a systemic approach to employee engagement. It enables:
● Gathering ideas for improvements,
● Analyze requests and identify key areas for improvement,
● Transparent communication of changes and their effects,
● Assigning responsibility for implementing change,
● Monitor progress and measure the effects of implemented solutions.
With Sherlock Waste , companies can not only better engage employees, but also create a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.
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Companies that involve employees in change processes achieve better financial performance, higher levels of innovation and less resistance to transformation. Co-creating change with the team, clear communication and the use of modern technologies such as Sherlock Waste are key success factors.
Is your company ready to engage employees in a continuous improvement process?
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