When you’re planning any significant business changes, it’s essential to consult with your employees. A genuine employee consultation process is not only best practice because it builds trust; if the change affects the workplace environment or your broader workforce, it’s also a requirement under legislation and within many Awards and Agreements.

Before implementing any organisational changes, there are three essential steps to follow when consulting with your employees: communicating honestly, seeking feedback and considering this feedback. We will explore those in more detail below:

One: Communicate honestly

When informing employees about any planned changes, it’s important to be authentic, clear, honest and concise in your communications. You will gain more trust and engagement from your team if you don’t solely detail what your planned changes are, but also explain why the changes are necessary. Employees will naturally want to know how and when the changes will impact them personally, so it’s important to set clear expectations in your communications in regard to the timeline and potential personnel impacts.

Two: Seek your employee’s feedback

Change can often be met with resistance, so it’s important that your employees feel involved and engaged throughout the whole process. Offer employees ample opportunity to ask questions about the proposed changes, and the potential impacts that the changes may have on them personally. Consider whole-of-company or team-based consultation sessions, plus the chance to provide anonymous feedback via a survey.

Three: Genuinely consider your employee’s feedback

It’s not enough to simply seek feedback – it must also be listened to. Giving genuine consideration to the views and opinions expressed by your team will typically lead to more genuine buy-in from your workforce and enable a more effective and sustainable change process. It can also help you to streamline and refocus your change management program by understanding the elements that may be more roadblocks, challenging or confusing for employees.

Change isn’t easy

Change can be a stressful and unsettling time for all involved. But by implementing a genuine consultation process, it is possible to successfully implement workplace change with employee buy-in.

The team at Common Goal Consulting can provide further advice and practical assistance to help engage your employees when making significant changes in a small or medium business. Get in touch with Director Nikki Jenkinson on 0472 545 584 or email projects@commongoalconsulting.com.au for a free consult call.