Assisting Your Team Through a Corporate Transition

One of the most challenging things about company growth is helping your team navigate the changes.

This could include changes in organizational structures as well as new dynamics to company culture.

Your team could be facing a shift in morale at facing the unknown that lies ahead, and they’ll be looking at you for guidance.

This doesn’t mean it will be easy, or that you’ll even have the entire support of your staff behind you at all times.

For example, some employees may be all for the change while others are completely against it.

Or company leaders may not have anticipated the work associated with the corporate transition accurately, which can lead to disruptions in the workflow and timeline for implementation.

Still, you need your staff to excel in the new environment if you want to capitalize on company growth. As a change management leader, you are responsible for ensuring the entire organization is in sync and on board with the coming corporate change.

Here’s how to ensure your team thrives through a corporate transition.

Embrace and Prepare for the Change Yourself

With so much focus on ensuring the organization embraces the corporate transition, what about you? How have you prepared yourself as a change management professional for what’s to come?

You need to welcome and prepare yourself for the corporate change before attempting to ensure everyone else does it. It’s going to be a lot of work, so do what you need to reset your mind, body, and emotional wellbeing before you dive in.

Revisit your leadership style too. Is there anything you must change in how you lead to ensure employees, management, and high-level leaders are all on the same page throughout the transition? Authentic leadership is vital.

Also, carefully planning the transition will help you embrace and prepare for the upcoming changes.

Carefully Plan the Transition

Carefully planning a corporate transition is crucial in assisting your team through it. You can give your team peace of mind when you have a plan for navigating each step in the transition, potential risks, and unexpected discoveries. They know what will happen, why, how, and their role in it.

For example, let’s say the demand for your company’s product is growing and the costs are rising with it. Because of this, there was a decision to change the team structure by adding a new manager and department.

Your other employees may feel uneasy about where they stand and how their roles will be affected in the transition. To successfully navigate this, you could show them your plan for the change, complete with goals, tools you’ll use, analysis of resources, and details on how you will support each existing employee.

The next step is preparing your team before the transition takes place.

Prepare Your Team Before the Transition Takes Place

One of the first steps in managing change in a corporation is overcoming employee resistance. As mentioned above, some employees will support the transition, and many others will ultimately be against any sort of change.

The last thing you want to do is leave things divided. You’ll never get a smooth transition that way. Instead, work hard to ensure every employee is excited and enthusiastic about the corporate change. And that starts with preparing them before anything takes place.

Tell your team a decent time in advance about the coming transition. Allow them a few days to wrap their head around it and come up with any questions or concerns they might have. Then sit down with each team member individually and help them understand the transition in total and how it will affect their work.

Once you’re in the thick of the transition, ensure your employees grow into their new roles.

Ensure Your Employees Grow into Their New Roles

Everyone’s role in the organization will evolve in some way when a corporate change happens. So, providing employees with adequate training and support is essential to ensure they grow into their new roles seamlessly.

Talk to them about what’s expected and ask them how they see their role progressing over the years. Determine if they need additional training or schooling to do well in their new position. Let them know which coworkers they can lean on for guidance and collaboration. And give them more responsibility as you learn more about their abilities.

Support their mental health and well-being too. A considerable part of your team embracing their new roles is feeling confident and capable and having a clear mind and heart. So, ensure two-way communication so they can come to you when needed.

Also, share mental health and wellness support resources with employees should they need extra support during the transition.

Lastly, welcome feedback from the entire organization throughout the transition.

Welcome Feedback

Constantly asking for feedback is one of the most critical steps in assisting your team through a corporate transition. Thinking that you’re doing everything right for your employees is much different than knowing.

Surveys are a great first step in soliciting feedback from your team. Send them out at various milestones in the process to see how things are going for everyone. You could also sit down with each employee individually, with each department, and with the organization at various points in the transition.

Welcome feedback so that you know exactly how your organization is taking to the transition and what to do to improve your team’s experience.

Conclusion

There’s nothing easy about assisting your team through a corporate transition. It takes a lot of planning, communication, resources, and willingness to work. However, the tips above can help you ensure each corporate change process is as smooth as possible.