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Eight Pillars of Success
for Enduring Change

Business Quarterly Magazine --
By: Leslie Yerkes

For every sailor it's the first and most enduring lesson: if you do not constantly change your course, you will never reach your goal. It's the same in business. Unfortunately, too many companies who profess to WANT change are not willing to support that change.

Think of your company as a classic Greek temple; classic because its function is supported by time-tested design. The base of your company is its mission: WHAT you are trying to do. The roof is the vision: WHERE you are trying to go. And without the support of the pillars in between, the vision collapses and the mission is never achieved.

If your employees resist change by saying: "Just wait, things will go back to normal, " then you should seriously consider implementing these eight pillars of success for enduring change.

1. Establish leadership commitment with a long-term vision for change. Successful change cannot be a fad or a quick fix; it is not disposable. No matter how good your plan, it will not be successful without absolute leadership commitment.
2. Communicate your mission and values. The mission and the values of your business need to be communicated to all members of the organization. Only when the stakeholders understand them will their fear and uncertainty be reduced and the goal achieved.
3. Clearly define performance standards. If you don't define your expectations, you can't expect employees
4. Improve the skills and habits of your employees. On-going skill-based training should be provided to every member of your organization so they can develop the skills and habits necessary to carry out the plan.
5. Integrate with all systems and structures. No plan for change is separate and distinct from the organization which is changing. The plan must be integrated with all existing systems and structures to remove obstacles and sustain change in the future.
6. Communicate constantly with a consistent message. The friend of change is information. The more people you give information to in a succinct manner, the less resistance to change there will be. The less resistance, the greater the success.
7. Recognize the efforts which exemplify the service standards. To maintain employees' motivation, praise and reward those who "do the right thing." When you create a culture where praise is profuse and frequent, you nurture the seeds of continued success.
8. Evaluate constantly. Create methods of continuous evaluation and improvement. More frequent, smaller changes are more effective than less frequent, larger ones.