Home HR Tips, Tools & Resources 40 Ways to Influence Stakeholders During a Change Management Program

40 Ways to Influence Stakeholders During a Change Management Program

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I’m back in Oman this week, delivering the third installment of the RBL HR Academy to a group of amazing Omani HR leaders. This week it’s all about change management.

Global research reveals that the success rate of a company wide change management program is less than 30%. Whether it’s due to bad planning, politics, unclear objectives and reason for change, resistance to change or not being able to communicate the WIIIFM (what is in it for me) what I often notice is that we’re not very good in identifying and developing a plan on how to engage our stakeholders.

We often only think of employees or customers as our stakeholders without doing a proper analysis on who is vested or impacted during the change and who might help us succeed or could possibly derail the program. Even if we’ve done a stakeholder analysis, we then stick to the tried and tested approaches of influencing stakeholders: communicate, communicate and communicate some more.

With the help of the Omani HR leaders I identified 40 different ways to influence stakeholders. I know it’s a long list and maybe not the most eloquent but to prime your creativity and ideas I have decided to give you all 40 of them in random order. Ready? Here they come:

  1. Lobby influencers
  2. Use statistics/data to influence stakeholders
  3. Share success stories
  4. Clarify consequences of not changing
  5. Help people understand the root cause by doing the 5 Why exercise
  6. Talk in a language the stakeholder understands and appreciates
  7. Link your change management program to an aspirational vision and/or opportunity
  8. Offer barters – you do this for me and i do this for you
  9. Use external advisers and/or consultants
  10. Influence the person that’s known to be able to influence others
  11. Communicate what the result of the program is using the “so that question
  12. Use the boss or peers to put pressure on the stakeholder
  13. Be careful in managing expectations of stakeholders, specifically what to expect and what NOT to expect
  14. Include target and KPI’s in annual objectives
  15. Provide an external perspective on why the change is necessary
  16. Give benchmark examples on what others are doing
  17. Share the rational for the change
  18. Be aware of politics and sometimes even use them
  19. Involve stakeholders in the process
  20. Take stakeholders out of office and buy lunch / coffee / dinner / donuts
  21. Link the change management program to the good it will do for society
  22. Walk the talk
  23. Make sure you choose the right time and place
  24. Be aware of and empathize with the interest of the stakeholder
  25. Use stick & carrot to get stakeholders moving
  26. Link the change management program to building the reputation of the company and its employees
  27. Explain external trends driving the need for change
  28. Motivate and excite
  29. Reward and recognize stakeholders supporting the change
  30. Offer trade-offs to stakeholders
  31. Help stakeholders get used to the change by implementing it in small steps
  32. Use change agents / champions to communicate and role model the change
  33. Be crystal clear on WIIIFM (what’s in it for me)
  34. If appropriate involve families in the change program
  35. Link the need for change to the financial results of the company
  36. Communicate, communicate and communicate more using every possible channels with different content
  37. Link the need for change to the ‘right way of doing business’
  38. Inject new talent role modelling the desired change
  39. Use emotions to convince people
  40. Fire employees if need be to set an example

As I said, this list may not be very organised but it certainly should give you ideas on how to influence stakeholders, your boss, or your colleagues in implementing a change management program. Good luck engaging stakeholders and making change stick! Of course, if you have more influencing tactics leave them in the comment box below.

Photo Credit: Nanagyei via photopin cc

Author: Paul Keijzer

Paul Keijzer is an innovative business leader and HR professional with more than 40 years of experience. He is the CEO of The Talent Games & Engage Consulting, a sough-after speaker and renowned name in the HR technology space. Been an official member of the Forbes Business Council 2020 and still contributes his thought leadership insights on various online platforms.

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