“HR should be the experts in managing and leading change” But you can’t learn these skills from reading a book – you have to live them
While change is troubling for many, the modern HR professional needs to be adept at surviving and thriving in turbulent times. Ahead of her appearance at the CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition, Lynne Weedall, HR director at Selfridges Group, tells People Management what she’s learned from her experiences of leading change, and shares her tips for becoming more comfortable with uncertainty.
You held a non-executive role at Greene King when it merged with the Spirit Pub Company, at the same time as leading the merger of Dixons and Carphone Warehouse. Was it useful, or stressful, to have these mergers running alongside each other?
It was very helpful on many levels, because Dixons Carphone was about six months further down the process, which gave me some great insights into how you interact with investors around delivery. I learned that the sooner you can get the synergy delivered, the sooner you can move on. That insight was really useful for the Greene King board.
Is change something people can learn to love?
If you don’t embrace change, you’re in for a hell of a bumpy ride. You have to be able to cope with uncertainty, and you have to deal with the complexity that comes with that. You can learn skills around understanding the behaviour, systems, dynamics and processes of change, but few people seem to have them. Generally, organisations end up hiring external consultants and project managers to bring in those skills. Really, HR should be the experts in managing and facilitating change. You can learn those skills, but inherently you have to be comfortable with and embrace change.
What are the best ways for HR professionals to learn those skills?
The best learning I had was putting myself forward for complex change projects, and partnering with experts – who were often external consultants. I also kept a journal of my time leading the integration at Dixons Carphone, which helped me to learn more about myself. Understanding and experiencing it yourself means you can be helpful to others in the future. You can’t learn it from a book or do a course. You have to live it – you have to feel the emotion.
Why do so many change projects fail?
The fundamental thing is that, to get somewhere new, you usually have to let go of somewhere old. And that means the new thing has to be better than the old. That sounds simple, but it’s exceptionally hard to do. I believe in a very simple change equation: every change needs clarity of vision and a good plan, but there also needs to be sufficient dissatisfaction with the status quo that outweighs the hassle of the change.
When change fails, it’s usually because one of those bits of the equation isn’t working. More often than not, it’s because the dissatisfaction hasn’t been harnessed enough; often we try to shut people up and pretend everything is fine. It’s difficult, but essential, to find a voice for dissatisfaction in a structured way, which enables you to do something about it.
Hear more from Lynne Weedall and other leading HR and L&D practitioners at the CIPD Annual Conference in November: cipd.co.uk/ace