How Change Provides Opportunity

Diane Birch, Executive Director of BITA, tells us how planned change can mean the difference between success and failure.

As a marketing strategist and change consultant, I work with many businesses that want to grow, but are unsure of the steps they should take. It is easy to equate growth and success, but one doesn’t necessarily lead to the other! It is very possible for a business to grow too quickly, leading to more problems down the line. Careful planning for change can offer the way forward.

Businesses adapt and change all the time to make sure they capitalise on opportunities available; it can be easy to get swept up in the excitement of a new idea, or new product. But how to handle this effectively? Instead of thinking how you can manage changes you want to implement, consider how you might plan for them, and what that looks like in your business. A very important part of successful change that is often overlooked is gaining the engagement of staff. In order to have a workforce that lives and breathes the new changes and ethos’ of the business, people need to have contributed to it. It’s always better to have volunteers than conscripts!

True, lasting and successful change isn’t easy, but it is well worth investing in. Installing sweeping changes across departments won’t automatically lead to engaged staff or higher turnovers. Effective planning coupled with staff engagement and contribution will take more time, but will help your business rise above the competition and make sure your staff buy into what you’re doing.

Change is about planning for a successful future; getting input from your staff, and bringing them with you on that journey, rather than dragging them kicking and screaming. If you think how you plan a real journey with a group of people, you don’t just tell them that they’ll be going somewhere with you tomorrow. You tell them when, where, how and why, as well as keeping some sweets handy for the troublemakers! Planning for change is planning for success.

Change offers opportunities for businesses to not only address issues that are occurring right now, but to anticipate concerns for the future and plan against them. Everyone knows that ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it’, right? This saying is so common that we accept it without really thinking about it, but maybe we should. In the early 1900’s people would have said that horses are good transportation; and if asked they wanted to change anything they would have said ‘get me a faster horse’! Henry Ford saw an opportunity here not to give them what they wanted ..... but to give them what they needed! Instead of sticking to tried and tested methods of transportation, he saw that horses and trains wouldn’t be fast or plentiful enough for the future we were building. Instead of investing in horses, he invested in manufacturing and created the Ford Model T – the first car available to the masses – and made a fortune along the way.

So, change is important if a business wants to grow successfully, you need to adapt and take advantage of opportunities; you just need to make sure you plan to get it right for you and your staff. Done right it isn’t necessarily quick or easy, but to do nothing isn’t an option just because something seems difficult. Einstein said that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, and we know how smart he was. Similarly, businesses that do the same things, in the same ways that they have always done and still expect their profits to increase, have some serious thinking to do.

Successful change requires investment and time in communication, ongoing training and mentoring, and serious planning, but the benefits are huge. It can offer opportunities for businesses to develop and grow positively, responding to the drivers of clients, staff and suppliers. Higher turnover and increased margin is just another added benefit!