The Importance of Communication during Organisational Change

by Kellie Rosenfield
organization organisation
This essay will explore the reasons that communications may be ineffective during times of
organisational change. Implementing any kind of change is not something organisations will take on, on
a whim. There is often a lot of time, expense and research involved in the planning, strategy and
implementation of change and yet organisations still fail to successfully implement their desired change
and the final outcome is never reached. Before implementing any large scale change, an organisation
needs to make sure that they have completed their plan and have a clearly defined outcome before
notifying any employees. The worst thing they could do is embark on a reorganisation or restructure
without having a defined strategy and a clear end goal. How can an organisation expect its employees to
be a part of the team working toward a clearly defined goal if the boundaries and the end reward are not
clear to anyone? Within, you will find an examination of some common reasons organisational change
fails due to a lack of business communication or due to a lack of effect communication. It will point out
potential key problem areas and pitfalls for organisations to avoid during the change process.
Elving (2005) focused on a six point model to use as a gauge to show whether an organisations change
has been effective. These six points include: The employees readiness for change; Providing
information to the employees about the change and whether or not their work will be altered by the
change; Using communication within an organisation to create a community atmosphere; Negativity
comes from the employees level of uncertainty; The job insecurity felt by the employees in the instance
of downsizing; and the level of communication contributes to the employees feelings of job insecurity
and uncertainty. These 6 points could also be used to guide organisations through the change process.
Its useful to learn from the knowledge of experts and academics but also to learn from the mistakes of
others.
For any organisational change to be effective, the readiness of its employees to change with the
organisation and to be a part of the successful change is a must. This comes down to openly
communicating with the employees the vision the organisation holds for the future and the need to
openly communicate how the employee can be a part of that successful change. Management need to
be very clear and concise when addressing employees in regard to the change. It is important to
minimise any confusion or misleading information. This is especially true for the employees directly
impacted by the change, yet still true, even for those employees unaffected by the change. Regular
meetings that update the employees on the upcoming change will hopefully alleviate any anxiety or
uncertainty that employees might have in relation to the impending change. Then, regular meetings
during the change to update employees on milestones and progress will motivate staff to participate in
the change for the good of the organisation.
Informing employees early about any changes that could ultimately affect their role could go either of two
ways. It could be a positive step as it gives the employee time to absorb the information, make them

accountable for the success of their changed role OR it could give them time to persuade others that the
change is not a good thing, thus rather than making them helpful positive employees, it turns them into
negative influences. This was summed up perfectly by Sillince (1999) who wrote the problem managers
face during organisational change is how to motivate people to see it as desirable and necessary, so that
they become willing participants rather than saboteurs. It is vital to remember that if an organisation is to
go ahead with change, it must provide employees with an estimated timeline, stick to the timeline as
much as possible and to celebrate milestones and successes.
The method used to inform employees of upcoming change is vital. Whilst it is important to notify the
employees directly affected by the change, its equally important to inform the employees that are
unaffected as this deters uncertainty. Its important that the organisation as a whole is on the same page.
Whilst technology has evolved in the last 30 years, it is not fair to assume that employees have evolved
as much in their need for a human face when it comes to information of this magnitude. Emails, while an
integral part of business communication are not the best source of delivering information as important as
organisational change. Management runs the risk of the information being lost, unread or open to
misinterpretation. Organisations rely on large group briefings to deliver the same message to all
employees.
Unfortunately, this is reliant on all employees being at work at the same time. It does not allow for staff
absence through illness, annual leave, long service leave etc. This method also does not take into
consideration the sheer volume that some organisations have. Cascade briefings are a good mode of
conveying the same message to smaller groups of employees. That is also assuming that all employees
will receive and interpret the information the same way. Common sense knows this to be untrue. An
employees background, culture, religion, age, sex all play a part in the way they interpret any
information, not just that in a business forum. With this in mind, its important to avoid a one size fits all
approach to conveying your information. Customise and target messages to meet the needs of the
different employee groups within the organisation.
It is important for management to gain feedback from employees at all stages of the change
implementation. The employees actually doing the job are the best source of vital information. They can
assist with information regarding what works and what doesnt. Managements role is more about
managing the employees and not about doing each individual jobs of each employee. Whilst requesting
feedback from employees might seem a daunting task, an organisations best likely source of
constructive feedback is from the negative employees. They are likely to be more honest and
forthcoming than your typical yes men employees.
Management need to monitor employees unofficial communication channels. This includes rumours,
gossip and the grapevine. Employees should be given all the information without having to resort to the
grapevine to find the real information. Management can curb negativity by rendering alternative channels
useless. Appointing a go-to person for employees to ask questions in relation to the change and allay

their fears or concerns could be of huge benefit. The member of management that is to be delivering
information to its employees will need to be thoroughly proficient on all information related to the change
as any uncertainty is most likely to be identified by the employees, thus creating an air of uncertainty.
Job insecurity is a big stressor for employees. Since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007
employees are more reluctant to change employment as there is still so much uncertainty in the
workforce. When instrumenting change in an organisation, its very easy for management to see
employees as just a number, however this really dehumanises the person who lives a very different
existence away from the workplace. (A person with a family, children, financial commitments etc.)
By openly communicating the change, reassuring employees of their perceived fears or worries, this can
help to eliminate any negativity in the workplace. Training is another factor to consider when discussing
job insecurity. A lack of training or perceived knowledge about the new role or organisation change can
create insecurity for the employee. Unfortunately, there will always be employees who are negative
toward any sort of organisational change regardless of how much they are informed. This is more of a
reflection on their character. Perhaps, they themselves dont like change.
Creating a sense of community within the workplace lends itself to creating a sense of belonging and
trust to the organisation but also a sense of ownership when it comes to organisational change.
Successful change can lead to a sense of pride and further bond the community within an organisation.
An organisation could test this sense of community by asking its employees to conduct a survey to
acknowledge their level of commitment, loyalty and job satisfaction. This sense of community can be
beneficial and detrimental to the organisation during the instance of corporate down-sizing. The benefit
lies in the sense of community existing in the remaining employees. They are more likely to band
together to ensure any further change is handled well, thus eliminating the need for further job losses.
However, a negative issue arises when an organisations employees have a strong sense of community
that when corporate down-sizing occurs, there can be feelings of resentment for the loss of other
employees that had a strong connection to the community (much like family). This can lead to slow and
ineffective development of the change occurrence.
As Postmes et al (2001), stated:
peoples sense of belonging to the organisation does not primarily depend on the quality of their
informal and social-emotional interactions with peers and proximate colleagues, but it is related
more strongly to their appreciation of the managements communication (Postmes et al, 2001
p.240).
Now that we have discussed these six points, we can use them, not only as a gauge to see if
organisational change has been effective but as a guide to organisations about to go through the change
process. Anytime an organisation can pre-empt the negative impacts of change, it will save them a lot of
time, money and potentially a lot of staff turnover.

Communication is to be viewed as a business tool, which should be looked upon with as much
importance as an organisations management structure or Information Technology (IT) network. It is the
basis of all relationships in business and in life. It is never so important as in the instance of an
organisations desire to create change, implement change and then review their change cycle. It is not to
be considered a one sided argument. This is not about how an organisation can convey information,
relay information and inform its employees in the best format. The employees need to be open to
receiving this information. Employees also need to be willing to accept change and be willing to work
toward the desired goals of the organisation.
Organisational change is never going to be an easy task. It is a long process that requires a lot of
planning, strategy and effort. It comes at a financial, emotional and potentially a job loss cost.
Management need to communicate their desired outcome and their plan on how to achieve it to their
employees. Likewise, employees need to be open to change, to provide constructive and not destructive
feedback as to the effects of such a change on the roles and tasks that they perform. Employees need to
see themselves as an integral part of the organisation and of the change process. Many organisations
do not get to realise the potential of their planned change for the simple fact that they did not
communicate the finer details effectively. Communication is not just about conveying a message. Its
about listening as well. Active listening is not just about listening to someone, but hearing what they are
saying, accepting what they are saying and using that information. Change is a stressful time for
management and employees alike but it can be lessened by effectively communicating.
References
Elving, W., (2005), Corporate Communications, Volume 10, Issue 2, p. 129-138
Gilley, A.; Gilley, J. W.; and McMillan, H., (2009), Performance Improvement Quarterly, Volume 21, Issue
4, p. 75-94
Johansson, C., and Heide, M., (2008), Speaking of change: three communication approaches in studies
of organizational change, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 13, No. 3, p. 288305
Postmes, T., Tanis, M., and de Wit, B., (2001), Communication and commitment in organisations: a
social identity approach, Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, Vol. 4, No. 3, p. 207-226
Sillince, J.A.A., (1999), The role of political language forms and language coherence in the
organizational change process, Organization Studies, Vol. 20, p. 485-518