Blog.

Here  is how to go about successfully embedding and sustaining new behaviours within an organisation.

James Sena, Managing Director, EDP says: ‘A typical situation I come across in a team is that they’ve had training in the past to help them do something new or better, but frustratingly further down the line, they‘re simply not doing it. There are many potential root causes of this scenario, but if we assume the people have the capability and that the previous training was more or less OK, then we have to dig deeper to get to the heart of the matter.’

He’s identified three common types of feedback which he often hears:

1. Identity:
The individual will say ‘This is not really part of my role, I don’t identify with this’
2. Change averse:
Some are time poor and not keen to take on new responsibilities if at first they appear too much of stretch saying ‘Even, if I did want to do it, it’s too complex and I can’t fit it in’
3. Business structure:
Others will look around them and feel the necessary structures required are not there and feedback ‘Management and processes did not support me’
These challenges are often very real within organisations and EDP faced this feedback situation recently when meeting with a team of safety audit engineers. They have previously had some sales training to help them pick up new business opportunities when they are on site with clients, but six months later no sales leads materialised.
Presented with this scenario, EDP worked hard to create a positive outcome by creating a five point programme and the investment has proved its worth by generating at least one new business opportunity every month for the team.

Here are the five key points in the process we used to embed change that a year later has proved sustainable too:

1. Establish a role model or vision that the participants can buy into
In this case the role of ‘Trusted Advisor’ gave the individuals something that they felt was worth aspiring to but also it was tangible and realistic.

2. Mapping key points in the client journey
Cross sell and up sell opportunities appear often in meetings and reviews so it was a matter of planning this out with the team to glean those key moments.

3. Use the most effective model/behaviours/skills set
Simple as it sounds, it’s easy to pull out a prepared pack of materials but extra thought and insight from the feedback means we create something that is entirely suitable and effective for the team in hand.

4. Mix collaboration and practise
People respond better to new ideas investigated in training if they play an active role. Highly participative workshops with practise sessions that focuses on the identified role model and existing role, mean participants feel this is their job rather than a burden of added responsibility.

5. Scoping our support for change
Finally, in this positive atmosphere we discuss what other support they will require when embedding this in to their day to day business; this again gives a tangible action plan of what needs to be done immediately after the course and leads to prolonged and sustained activity within the team.