Change is hard. In the video you’ll share with your staff we’ve included several tips employees can follow to maintain momentum as they work towards achieving their vision and creating the practice they want. We also wanted to provide a few tips for you.
Remind them to take accountability. If the employees in your practice have looked to you to make the changes they wanted to see or solve the problems they’ve had in the past, it’s likely that they’re still going to do this. In the video you’ll show them, we emphasize the importance of taking accountability for their own actions, and also the fact that no one person, including you, can change the entire culture of a practice. Still, habits are hard to break and so they might need your help to do this. If your employees come to you expecting you to make a change or solve a problem, ask them:
- Is there anything you can do to that would help address this problem?
- How can I support you as you do that?
Support them as they hold one another accountable. Someone’s teammates helping them to remember the “towards” behaviors they agreed to is much more powerful that you writing someone up for acting inappropriately. If your employees tell you that someone isn’t doing the things we agreed to, encourage them to speak to that person directly and help them plan how they might have that conversation.
Make behavior change conversations about the vision. Whatever methods you’ve used to try to change employee behavior in the past should also be paired with, or even replaced by, conversations about the vision. If you notice someone is speaking to another employee rudely, for example, you might ask, “Is that conversation you just had moving us towards or away from our vision?” If someone doesn’t want to address a problem they have with another person ask, “Is avoiding this conversation moving us towards or away from our vision?” Sometimes, people know what they need to do but not know how to do it. Work with them to come up with a plan and help them build confidence as they make changes.
Model the changes you want to see. Few things are more demoralizing than working hard to do the right thing when your manager isn’t. If you want the changes your employees need to make to be lasting, you have to model making those changes as well. In addition to demonstrating the “towards” behaviors you’ve all agreed on, and holding your employees accountable for doing this, start aligning your managerial actions to the vision too. For example, when you need to hire an employee, think about how they will fit into the culture you want to create, not the one you presently have. If someone isn’t getting on board with the changes everyone has agreed to make, be willing to have a difficult conversation with them about it. Although you can’t change your practice alone, you can and should be an active contributor to the change you want to see. What people want to see from their leaders in times of change is effort. If they see you working to make personal changes, it will cause them to work towards their own changes as well.
