Is Change Management A Part of HR?

Change management approach

Change is here to stay. But we all know that by now. The post-pandemic world continues to see the rate of change accelerate as organisations battle with the digital revolution. As well as the changing workforce demands, operational efficiency pressure, and the ever-growing expectations of the sustainability agenda.

 

Carrying The Weight of Change

 

But who is it that’s left with the responsibility of executing all this change? Executives often talk the talk when it comes to promoting continuous improvement, but they fail to deliver the ethos.The actual day-to-day struggle of getting change delivered falls further down the chain, usually landing on the HR team.

 

Change Management Becoming a Part of HR

HR are almost always asked to carry the load when it comes to guiding the organisation and its people. This is the same through significant change or transformation. They are expected to add change management to their roles effectively. However, they’re expected to do this without much support.

 

Providing Support & Experience

Many HR teams don’t have change management capabilities or experience. Over the years, there’s been a significant reliance on management consultants to provide this type of support. In the long term this has been to the detriment of HR both from a reputational perspective within the business, as well as in terms of value for HR team members. This is because they aren’t getting the right experience to develop change management skills themselves.

 

The Expanding Role of HR

HR is expanding into all sorts of new and exciting spaces as a result of the future of work trends of the last decade. Because of this expanding role, HR has been under the spotlight a lot. They’re expected to get involved in any and all aspects of the “people stuff” within a business. Managing change is fundamentally always about influencing and supporting people to adapt their mindset. As well as develop new skills, and commit to new ways of working.

 

Reducing Costs Through Training & Support

Presently, organisations are wasting millions every year on expensive consultants. These are consultants who are drafted in when the going gets tough with regards to implementing business change. When transformation is on an extensive scale this may ultimately be unavoidable and more cost-effective. However, with the rate of change over the past decade, it is no longer permissible to accept that Change Management isn’t a part of HR.. This has simply got to become part and parcel of the job!

 

What support do HR need?

What does a capable change manager mean? It doesn’t necessarily require certification and expensive training for all of HR. Instead, HR needs to be given the opportunity to learn the basics of the change management discipline. This needs to be through accessible and easy to understand resources. As well as giving the opportunity to develop and practise their skills in this area.

 

Providing HR With Support

Most good HR teams know the business well. They know the leaders and the people on the ground and they understand the culture and nuances.  They are well placed to deliver change effectively and embrace change management as part of HR. They just need a little help with applying the right tools and techniques to get leaders aligned around a common vision. Help employees understand how changes impact them, and to achieve commitment and adoption.

 

Is Change Management a Part of HR?

Yes, and if it isn’t within your company it may well soon be.

 

Change Proud was designed to make getting the right support with change management easy. HR teams need a place to go for consistent, accessible help with change. This needs to be provided in a way that brings to life the practicalities of delivering change in the workplace.

Take a look at the Change Proud programme and give your HR team the help they need today.





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