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Buckle Up, We’re Taking A New Road
By Ron | November 5, 2008
Yes, America, we have a new driver and we’re taking a new road in a new car and it’s not your grandfather’s Oldsmobile either. And just as America’s President-Elect promised - there is going to be change.
We in Human Resources know that change is difficult even when the change appears to be a good one. Like a sociologist, I watched companies in Silicon Valley change hands. Memorex was a prime example. I remember when they brought in a new CEO who promised change and he quickly implemented it by bringing in his own team at the top. They had worked with him at his prior company and were able to swiftly implement the new changes.
I bet you good HR folks out there can predict what happened next and you would be right. The new regime at Memorex swung into action and the old timers nodded their heads yes, but quietly sabotaged the new initiatives. Top mangement retaliated by incentivizing middle management to achieve the new goals. Although the middle managers didn’t buy into the changes, they enforced them because they were bribed to do so. They even made it mandatory for their people to come in on Saturdays without additional remuneration to get the changes through faster.
I know that you can guess what happened… the troops knew that their bosses were getting bonuses at their expense and, of course, rebelled. Most of these employees were the ones that I could easily hire away since my company was in competition with Memorex.
The real life lesson for me was about implementing change. Real and lasting change is a result of a lot of hard work. The top management at Memorex bought the hands of the people, but could not buy their hearts. Hearts aren’t for sale.
Topics: HR |
November 6th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
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