how to use psychology to change bwehhitaev piaopuerrs at work · we tend to dress smartly. but if...

How to use psychology tochange behaviours at work

WHITE PAPER

How to use psychology to change behaviours at work | Making Change Happen

Change is all about

people

In the modern workplace,change is something we all

have to deal with every day. Somaking sure your people are onboard with it should always be a

priority. Because the way yourworkforce feels about working

for you affects the performanceof your business.

Organisations have recognised

the importance of changemanagement as a tool to help

with this for more than 50 yearsnow. But despite that, studies

still show that 60 to 70% oforganisational change fails. So

what’s going wrong?

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Psychologically Savvy Change

One of the major problems isthat businesses don’t take thetime to investigate thepsychology of the way peoplein their workplace function. Butinvesting in this could be VERYworthwhile. Look at it this way:almost all organisations aremade up of people who work inteams. And those teamsgenerally have rules thatdetermine ‘the way we dothings round here’. They usuallyaren’t written down anywhere –but everyone understands thesocial norms and organisationalcultures. It’s thesepsychological processes,alongside teams’ dynamics,values and work habits, whichhave the biggest influence onhow employees behave whenthey’re at work. So to makechange stick, organisationsmust understand thesebehaviours.

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To help with that, in this paperwe’ll be looking at thepsychology of work and culture,alongside some techniques wecan use to help introduce andembed change. We’ll start bydiscussing the psychology ofwork, and then look at ways tocreate psychologically awarechange.

The psychology of work

Organisational culture is a set ofinterlinking beliefs about theway we should do things atwork. These beliefs reduceuncertainty and give usguidance on how to behave –most of us find ourselvesfollowing them automatically.Think about the way we dress atwork. When we start a new jobwe tend to dress smartly. But ifeveryone else is more casual,it’s not long before social normstake hold and we start to fit in,taking off the suit jackets,putting on the jeans, buying aBrompton foldaway bike (forsome of us, anyway!), and so on.We learn the social normsbecause we’re hardwired to likefitting in.

What that meansfor change

Obviously culture is acomplicated concept. So for thepurposes of this paper and tomake it more manageable,we’re going to look at threeaspects of organisationalculture which influence the waywe behave at work:1. social norms 2. psychological safety3. habits.

PART 1_________________________________________________


Social norms

Human beings are socialcreatures and most of us justwant to fit in, especially at work.Even rebels tend to fit in to atribe with other rebel friends. Toachieve that collective identitywe tend to follow the socialnorms of the groups we belongto (be those rebel orconformist). These guide groupmembers on what we can andcan’t do, and reinforce ‘the waywe do things’ at work – how wedress, how we talk, how we joinin and speak up, who getsinvited to what meetings, and soon. They’re unconscious,unwritten routines we oftenfollow without realising.

1The dangers of routine

Sometimes social norms canstop change in its tracks. Andthis can cause real problems intoday’s workplace whichrequires adaptive and rapidchange. This means we need todo some deliberate work onbehaviours that need adapting. Let’s take leadership as anexample. Today’s great leadersempower their teams to think,providing the right conditions forinnovation, creativity andchange. In short, theyencourage their people to tellthem how to solve a problem.But the social norm is that theboss knows best, because that’show it was for a long time. Sopeople wait for their orders,then do what they’re asked to –which means missedopportunities for everyone.Organisations need to do somework to change that socialnorm, as what they want fromleaders today is very different.


Psychological safety

Being part of a team is so muchmore important now than itused to be. In fact, today’semployees spend 50% moretime collaborating than they did20 years ago. So it’s vital that wehave psychological safety atwork which means creating ateam culture where talkingopenly comes without blame,shame or the fear of losing face.Most of us want to look smart,capable or helpful in the eyes ofothers. So we avoid giving openfeedback if doing that meanswe risk looking ignorant,incompetent or disruptive.Without psychological safety,the work environment becomesa dangerous place for this typeof interpersonal risk taking. Andthat means that when youchange comes along, peoplemight be frightened to support itif they feel their colleagues willdisagree with them.

2Being able to speak up, putforward half-formed ideas, askquestions and suggest betterways of doing things also helpsfree teams from subconscious‘groupthink’ (the psychologicalphenomenon where a groupmakes irrational or strangedecisions to avoid disagreeingwith the consensus).


Start with your teams

Psychological safety is somethingthat’s constructed within a team ratherthan across an organisation. That’sbecause the way teams interact willnever be the same from one toanother. For example, one might bevery open and discuss everything,whereas another might not feel theneed to talk about every little thingthey’re doing. Teams are alsoinfluenced by the style of their leader,the values they promote and the habitsthey encourage around open feedbackand decision making. So you can’tcreate psychological safety with ablanket training course or a series ofposters on the back of every toiletdoor. It takes deliberate work within theboundaries of each team to create theright conditions for people to feel safeabout being open with each other. This does mean there isn’t a one-size-fits-all fix. But it’s work that’s worthdoing, as getting it right creates theperfect environment for creativity andinnovation.

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Habits

40% of our actions are habits.This helps us cut down on a lotof decision-making – forexample we don’t need todecide how to get dressed, howto drive a car, how to make toastetc. Think of habits as mentalshortcuts which require lessbrain activity, so are far moreefficient. This is because ourbrains operate differently whenwe form habits as opposed tolearning new behaviours.

3 So far, so good – these autopilotresponses save us brain powerand also, more importantly, time.But when those habits are nolonger fit for purpose, they canbecome a problem. Let’s go backto leaders as an example. A LOT oforganisational culture is shaped bythe choices leaders make whenfaced with tricky situations. Peopleemulate those choices and takethem as a steer on how to behave.Then, over time, these choicesbecome habits. But as we sawearlier, some of the old ways don’twork in this new collaborativeworld. So those old habits aren’talways the right responses. Notspeaking up in a meeting might bea habit you want juniors to break.Not rocking the boat might alsohave gone past its sell-by date.Sometimes we need to makeconscious decisions to break oldhabits and create new ones,particularly when it comes to oldhabits around feedback, decisionmaking and speaking up.


Five tips to help youcreate psychologicallyaware change

Hopefully you now understand the‘why’ of psychologically savvy change.So now let’s look at the ‘how’. Here arefive tips to help you approach changefrom a more people-centredperspective.

PART 2_________________________________________________


Carry out employee-persona work

Employee-persona work usesinterviews, cultural assessmenttools, focus groups andresearch to understand whoyour employee groups are andhow they think. It’s worth itsweight in gold to find out what’sshaping attitudes andbehaviours in your organisation.

1Knowing the different ‘tribes’you have working for you helpsembed change. That’s becausewe all react to changedifferently – so looking at yourworkforce as separate groupswill help you get to know theirdifferent motivations, languageand attitudes towards change,as well as the social normsthey’re working to. This can giveyou practical data – for examplea heat map – that will help youprioritise efforts in the rightareas, and in turn get a betterROI.


Design employee-learning journeys

Something people often don’trealise is that there are differentlearning journeys inorganisational change. Ofcourse there’s one big one forthe whole business – but thereare also smaller, morepersonalised learning journeysfor each group (like HR, IT,customer service and so on).Individual teams or departmentsdon’t need to know everythingabout the changes you’remaking. And they definitelywon’t be interested in all of it.Use this to help you tell thestory they do want to listen to –craft your change narrativearound the parts they’reinterested in and leave outanything they aren’t.

2You could start by creating atimeline showing how each groupwill need to change. This will makesure you allow enough time forpeople to learn, and that you onlytell them what they need to know,when they need to know it. This isa much better approach than justsending everyone on a company-wide training course on one topic,which is inefficient and wasteful(and usually doesn’t work).

Your learning journeys shouldalso look at the emotions thatgo along with each stage. Thinkabout how people will feel bypre-empting highs and lows,and coming up with differenttactics for both. Obviously thehighs are gifts for you, and youcan use them as amplifiers tobuild pride in your organisationand increase employeeengagement. Unfortunatelyhighs mean that lows areunavoidable, but planningahead will help you minimisetheir impact, give support whereemployees need it and stopnegative messages derailingengagement.


Use stories to inspire

Employees don’t want instructionmanuals on how to deal with change– they want to understand what itmeans for them. So you need yourwords to create the right emotionalresponse in them. The easiest way todo this is by telling stories. And, muchlike the personalised employeejourneys we just talked about, whileyou do need to craft one big story forthe whole organisation, you alsoneed little ones that each of yourtribes can connect with. In fact, youcan use the employee-persona workyou’ve already carried out to helpyou with this. Make sure you use yourwords and narratives to positionconcepts within each group’s socialnorm. The right story can inspire andconnect people in a whole new way.

3


Create new habits

Many organisations are realisingthat their habitual ways ofworking are out of date. In somecases established practices areactually taking energy or poweraway from people and theorganisation. Just think howmuch effort’s wasted withunnecessary meetings! It’sworth taking time to stop andlook at whether inefficienthabits have become ingrainedin your organisation. What’sholding you back? Changing or cultivating just afew keystone habits – habitsthat lead to the development ofmultiple good habits – cancause widespread shifts andimprovements bringing betterproblem solving and morecollaborative working. And it’llalso help give your teamspsychological safety. A good place to start is withthree questions: (1) what’sworking, (2) where are wegetting stuck and (3) what couldwe do differently?

4Meetings: cultural habitsprobably dictate how yourpeople run meetings. Is thisstill fit for purpose? Or isthere a better way to dothings?Experiments: how do youdeal with innovation andideas in your organisation?Replacing the old habit oflong planning cycles to givepeople permission to trysomething new orexperiment without the fearof failure can bring realpositive change (althoughthis is harder to teach thanyou think). Feedback: make sure youhave a culture wherefeedback is a good thing, notsomething to be feared oravoided.

Three areas where badhabits tend to creep in


Support your people through change

If you’re going to ask youremployees to buy in to newways of working, you need to beprepared to support themthrough the change. Workculture can be hard to shift –once we form a narrative webecome very attached to it andit causes us pain to let it go. Giveyour people the chance to talkto others and share theirexperiences in a safe space tohelp them make sense of it all.Because conversations help usunderstand what employeespay attention to. Neverunderestimate the power of justletting people speak – liketaking a day out of the office toconnect and share stories.Having these conversationscreates shared language andunderstanding about change.

5You should also make sure yourculture means you’re alwaysbuilding resilience into yourteams, whatever area they workin. Just like people,organisations also go throughtimes of trauma, and the stressthat comes with that can impairemployees’ functioning orwellbeing. At this point it’sparticularly important toremember to help them on apsychological level. Specialisttrauma psychologists can workwith teams who’ve experienceda trauma, examine what’s goneon and help them find ways tobetter cope with what’shappened to them.


The last word

There’s a lot of deliberate workthat goes with changingbehaviours to unstick norms,attitudes and behaviours. Andgiving people space to thinkabout the psychologicalprocesses in play will have a biginfluence on the outcome. Sousing psychology to help youembed change in yourorganisation should be a nobrainer – you’ll know that yourL&D spend hasn’t been wasted,you’ll see a better ROI and you’llhave more engaged employees.So what are you waiting for?

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What’s Making Change Happen?

Making Change Happen is anew type of organisation – atreasure chest of people andskills that clients can dip intodepending on their needs.

How we work

People don’t behave inpredetermined ways. So untilwe start work on a project wecan’t predict what will come up.But that’s the beauty of ourcollective – we’re all experts inour fields, so we can quicklywork out what each situationneeds. We then curate andblend our skills to match.


Who we are

Sandie’s the founder of Making Change Happen. She is anorganisational psychologist, a certified co-active coach and a specialistin diagnostic work, behaviour change and employee engagement.

Sandie Bakowski - Organisational psychologist

Mandy specialises in organisational trauma, resilience and mentalhealth. She’s worked with employees affected by 911 and theManchester bombings. She also works with senior leaders to createcultures that promote emotional resilience and positive mental health.

Mandy Rutter - Trauma counsellor and psychologist

Jill trains business people to increase their personal presence and theimpact they have on others through body language, posture and vocalwork. She’s a specialist dialect coach and works with actors includingMeryl Streep, Javier Bardem, Dame Vanessa Redgrave and DameMaggie Smith. Jill was an adjunct professor at Yale University and iscurrently an associate coach at London Business School.

Jill McCullough - Impact and leadership coach

Vicky brings disruptive thinking, constructive challenge and practicalexperience to organisational strategy, business models andteam/individual leadership approaches . She’s co-founder of Ways ofWorking Labs, director for the Association of Sustainability Practitionersand guest lecturer at Cambridge Judge Business School Programme forSustainability Leadership.

Vicky Grinnell-Wright - Team/executive coach and D&I

After 20 years working in executive-level leadership roles across theOgilvy Group, Huge, We are Friday and Edelman, Alex now brings all ofthat experience to here role as an accredited executive coach. She workswith individuals and teams, leaders and boards on responsible andresilient leadership. She’s co-founder of Truth & Spectacle.

Alex Mecklenburg - Creative business consultant and coach


Fiona Hiscocks - Cultural architect and story maker

Fiona helps teams design cultures grounded in belonging, connectionand participation. Fiona has worked with stories in organizations formore than 20 years. Using them to generate insight and the potentialfor change. Tapping into stories is the best way to truly understandculture.

Tara’s a transformational change consultant and experienced deliverymanager who helps clients develop and deliver their communicationsstrategy. She works with senior leaders to understand where they wantto go and design plans to help them achieve their goals by bringingtheir teams together.

Tara Jones - Delivery Manager

Emma specialises in injecting warmth and humanity into dry androbotic corporate copy, and turning it into something people actuallywant to read. She can spot a misused compound adjective or acomma splice a mile off, and helps organisations in all areas ofbusiness with their words, including EDF Energy, KPMG and BT.

Emma Wilkin - Writer and editor

Sophie Brown - Magic Maker Sophie has many years of senior level experience. She’s worked acrosslarge and small scale events in sport, music, business and the arts. Shehas a keen eye for detail and is extremely creative. Sophie enjoys highpressure environments, working as a team but also by herself and hasher own blog at www.rexandthecity.blog.

To find out how email:

[email protected]

We can work with you to build yourchange narrative.

www.MakingChangeHappen.co.uk

how to use psychology to change bwehhitaev piaopuerrs at work · we tend to dress smartly. but if...

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