Bring employees up to speed
Horne spent his early days at the Register explaining the problems they faced and, very broadly, what the solution might look like. He says that debriefing must be transparent. You can’t steer away from bad news; it can remind employees why change is so crucial.
“It’s a little easier to create change when people are clearly aware that a lot of bad things are going on,” Horne says. “It’s harder to do change when a business is pretty successful and you’re anticipating difficult times so you’re trying to pre-empt it. It takes really strong communication and transparency to create urgency in people, because change happens from urgency.”
For example, when Robinsons-May department stores merged with Macy’s, Horne explained to employees that meant a $3 million advertising loss for the Register.
When you deliver bad news, articulate which factors are out of your control. Then turn your message to the things you can control, encouraging employees to tackle those instead.
Horne used the Macy’s merger to illustrate why the company couldn’t depend solely on large customers. He took the chance to remind employees that one of their goals was diversifying by broadening their advertiser base.
You can keep these sessions from becoming overwhelmingly negative by motivating employees. For Horne, that meant giving them the power to find and implement solutions.
“Rather than an executive team sitting in a room handing down edicts, we decided to communicate with people and help them understand why change was necessary and that, in fact, they were going to have to help lead the change,” Horne says. “They were going to have to help determine what the change was specifically, and they were going to have to implement it.”
By telling employees that they will be responsible for the change, you stir passion that you’d lose if you forced them to follow your mandate. Involving them in the creation of the plan gives them a stake in the company’s success.
“You should make sure your associates know what’s going on with the core business and why we are making changes,” says Horne, who sees failure to do so as the root of most job dissatisfaction. “The best way to do that is to have a continuing dialogue and involve them in solving the business problems.”
That approach also eliminates the step of securing buy-in from everyone. When employees create the plan, they’re already committed to it.
“When it’s time to implement, you have a bunch of willing followers — in fact, you have a whole lot of leaders — within the organization forcing the change, as opposed to a handful of managers trying to force the change,” he says.