Why Influencing Change?

Why Influencing Change?

Today’s Supply Chain professionals are facing numerous, varied and complex changes which often occur simultaneously.  Therefore, to be an effective Supply Chain leader, we must be good at influencing change.  We spend a tremendous amount of our time trying to influence the behavior of others – whether it’s up the organization with leadership, down the organization with our direct reports, across the organization with peers or internal stakeholders or outside the organization with customers or suppliers, or in the community, with friends and family.  When you think about it, leadership is really intentional influence.

The problem is we – individuals and organizations – are not very good at it.  An Arthur D. Little study reports that 85% organization change efforts fail to meet quality cost or timing goals.  Deloitte’s Global CPO Survey for 2014 found that “Some 68 per cent [sic] of respondents still describe their internal influence as ‘mixed‘” meaning that there are significant missed opportunities.  The Corporate Executive Board reports that being an Influencer is one of only six behavioral competencies that set strategic procurement staff apart.  Similarly, University of Tennessee’s 2012 white paper entitled “Skills and Competencies That Supply Chain Professionals Will Need” reports that “Inspiring and Influential Leadership” is one of five critical skills.  We must get good at influence!

There is a huge cost if we fail at this challenge.  We risk the vanishing ROI as our project misses quality, cost or timing goals.  There is the lost opportunity cost from the project we neglected while pursuing the failed initiative.  What is the cost of our damaged reputation with leadership, internal stakeholders, customers and suppliers when we fail to influence change?  Since no one likes working on a failed project, deteriorating morale can easily result in regretted turnover.  Finally, there is organization cynicism.  We’ve all heard it: “This is another program of the month.  If I just sit tight, this too shall pass.”  When this attitude becomes pervasive you have organization stagnation which no business can afford.  Unfortunately, research shows that fewer than one in eight workplace change efforts produces anything other than cynicism.

Traditional change management has failed to deliver the degree, speed or sustainability of desired changes.  Why is that?  There are several reasons.  Traditional change management is very project management oriented, focusing on only the tip of the iceberg – things like strategy, systems, process and structure.  While all of these considerations are important, they are insufficient to drive the desired change.  They fail to focus on what’s below the waterline which includes culture, norms and status quo behaviors – all of that organization resistance that undermines and impedes our change effort.  Organization change is really just the sum of changes in individual’s behavior, and that is the neglected area of opportunity.

For most failed change efforts, there is a conspiracy of causes and few of us have a systematic way of even thinking about this fundamental challenge.  We identify one or two causes of resistance and look for a “silver bullet” to tackle them.  Change agents have their favorite strategies to combat resistance such as more communication or training.   The reality is that we typically underwhelm an overwhelming challenge.

For any change to take place an individual asks themselves two questions: 1. Is it worth it (motivation)? and 2. Can I do it (ability)?  Influencing Change training, based on the New York Times bestseller, Influencer, focuses on changing individuals’ behavior utilizing a systematic framework for first diagnosing causes of resistance, and then strategizing how to both motivate and enable change.  It also equips the learner with skills and strategies to be successful.  For example, we tend to rely heavily on verbal persuasion to spur personal motivation.  Unfortunately, this is notoriously ineffective.  When we encounter resistance, we often share more information, putting people into a PowerPoint coma where all they hear is “wha, wha, wha, wha, wha”.  It is the equivalent of talking louder when a person who speaks a different language doesn’t understand.  Instead, we should be seeking Direct or Vicarious Experiences which help people to connect to values they already hold to make change more appealing and sustainable.

Influencing Change employs all Six Sources of Influence™, which address motivation and ability as affected by Personal, Social and Structural forces.  Research proves that by employing four or more sources of influence against the desired vital behavior you increase your success tenfold.

How’s your change management working for you?  If it leaves you wanting, and you want to increase your success tenfold consider Influencing Change.

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For more information contact:

Barbara M. Ardell
Vice President & Influencing Change Practice Leader
Paladin Associates, Inc.
BMArdell@PaladinAssociatesInc.com
(770) 315-1581

What Have You Got To Lose

Aberdeen’s recent report: “From Preservation to Prosperity; The CPO’s Agenda for a New Decade” ⁽¹⁾ identifies top pressures driving Procurement’s focus:

• Top down directive to cut costs 69%
• · Increasing supply risk 27%
• · Lack of visibility into enterprise spend 21%
• · Insufficient number of staff 20%
• · Insufficient skill of staff members to capitalize on savings opportunities 18%
• · Increasing globalization/supply chain complexity 18%

Bottom line: Procurement organizations are charged with doing increasingly more with existing or fewer resources. This pressure has rightly led to automation of many procurement tasks such as requisition and invoice approval, spend analysis, contract management, etc. However in the short run, automation initiatives often strain Procurement resources even further as they must continue to support the current processes while designing and implementing new, automated ones. There are uncountable examples of Purchasing organizations whose savings initiatives have come to a screeching halt due to an ERP implementation. Sound familiar? Further, as Procurement organizations transition from manual processes and a tactical focus to strategic organizations they also find that their resources lack the skills and business processes for the new era.

The pressure to deliver more with less, combined with skill and process obsolescence often drives Procurement management to seek outside consultants. While traditional consulting firms may help, they often leave the sponsoring organization with a huge bill for services and internal resources that are no better equipped than they were to begin with. Fortunately, there is a new breed of consulting firm that addresses this dilemma.

The “graying of America” and the corporate downsizing of the last decade have spawned “boutique” consulting firms comprised of highly seasoned Procurement professionals often willing to work on a gain share basis. Unlike traditional consulting firms who are highly protective of intellectual capital, these new firms typically encourage knowledge transfer and promote client mentoring. They don’t sell the “A Team” and deploy the “C Team”. Their highly experienced professionals work alongside existing resources helping to design new strategic processes coaching your team through implementation. They teach your people to fish! Simultaneously, they handle much of the “leg work” allowing savings initiatives to move forward at a more rapid pace. Importantly, their efforts are paid for out of actual bottom line savings with a guaranteed ROI leaving you with money in the bank and a better equipped organization.

Paladin Associates and other such boutique consulting firms can help you with technology implementations such as spend analysis and eSourcing as well as strategy development, sourcing process improvements, skill training and staff development while delivering bottom line savings with a guaranteed ROI. Your staff learns from industry’s best with efforts funded by accelerated bottom line savings. What have you got to lose?

⁽¹⁾ Pezza, Scott & Christopher J. Dwyer. “From Preservation to Prosperity; The CPO’s Agenda for a New Decade.” Aberdeen Group. September 2010. http://www.aberdeen.com/Aberdeen-Library/6355/RA-procurement-spend-management.aspx. (Registration required.)