Achieving Organisational Change Through Leveraging Internal Networks

Targeting influencers at ALL levels

Impetus for ‘Change’ has Never Been Greater

* http://www.towerswatson.com/en/Press/2013/08/Only-One-Quarter-of-Employers-Are-Sustaining-Gains-From-Change-Management

What does NOT work in changing a culture? Some group decides what the new culture should be. It turns a list of values over to the communications or HR departments with the order that they tell people what

the new culture is. They cascade the message down the hierarchy, and little to

nothing changes.

John P. KotterOrganisational Change Management

Authority

… But 75% or Organisational Change Efforts Fail*

Situation

The Critical Mass has Moved to the Middle…

* Actual data from a 33,000 financial services company

Staff Numbers at Each Level*

CEO

Group Executive

Executive General Manager

General Manager

Executive Manager

Manager/Specialist/Co-ordinator

Analyst/Associate/Representative

Support Officer/Analyst

Admin Support

Office Support

Building Services Support

Executive

The critical mass are now professional

independent workers

Complication

Perc

enta

ges

Hierarchical Level

Survey: Please nominate up to five people who you rely on the most to get your work done

Levels 6 & 7 rely as much or more on their peers than their leaders. They also made up 68% of total staff

‘Top Down’ is failing where it matter most…Complication

Layers of Management to Traverse are Significant …

Staff Numbers at Each Level*

CEO

Group Executive

Executive General Manager

General Manager

Executive Manager

Manager/Specialist/Co-ordinator

Analyst/Associate/Representative

Support Officer/Analyst

Admin Support

Office Support

Building Services Support

Executive

* Actual data from a large strong financial services company

The critical stakeholder groups are 5 Levels or more down from the CEO

Complication

… Sustained influence is most likely at the peer-to-peer relationship level

One-upPeerOne-down

Perc

enta

ge

89% of dependency nominations were within a single level

45% of dependency nominations were peers at the same level

Mutual dependency is lowest at the one level up relationship

Cascading ‘Top Down’ has little chance of working….

Complication

Good News … the Critical Mass is Connected

Engagement @ Network Speed!

…but how to identify the ‘right’ super-connected influencers?...

There is hope…

Resolutions

Targeted Diffusion of the ‘Change’ Message

‘Change Agents’ work in networked teams to engage the ‘disconnected’

Valente, Thomas W. Social networks and health: Models, methods, and applications. Oxford University Press, 2010.

When diffusion starts with opinion leaders, the diffusion occurs more rapidly.

When diffusion starts with randomly selected people, or those on the margins, it is slower.

Resolutions

A Method to Resolution…

Use SNA to identify the set of

Influencers, enterprise wide

1

Enroll peer level influencers into targeted change

initiatives

4

Conduct profile analysis of

‘disconnected’ to identify target

sectors

3

Identify people most distant from

potential influencers (the Disconnected)

2

Please nominate who you rely on the most to get your work done

List of Influencers

List of Disconnected

List of Disconnected

ProfilingDepartment?

Location?Seniority?Tenure?Gender?

Age?Role? Etc.

Peer Level Influencers

‘Top Down’ Change Facilitators

Division xxxRole: abc, zzzSeniority: 7Location: xyz

Resolutions

Identifying Influencers in the ‘Critical Mass’

“With other members of the senior team, they sought out employees at all levels—those who were well connected, sensitive to the company culture, and widely respected—to get their input on the strategy as well as their views on both the design and execution of intended process changes.”

Harvard Business Review Case Study“Cultural Change That Sticks”Katzenbach, Steffen and Kronley

Using Social Network Analysis…

Case Example

Use SNA to identify the set of

Influencers, enterprise wide

1 Please nominate who you rely on the most to get your work done

Top Influencers

Nu

mb

er o

f d

epen

den

cy n

om

inat

ion

s

Case Example

Identify people most distant from

potential influencers (the Disconnected)

2

10,728 received at least 1 nomination

as an influencer

2,618 non-influencers

Identified Network Size = 13,346

18,718 Potentially

Disconnected

Total Staff = 32,064

Case ExampleConduct profile analysis of

‘disconnected’ to identify target

sectors

3

Retail Banking comprise 57.8% of the Disconnected Group, yet only 24.3% of the Connected Group; suggesting an under-representation in the connected group

Case ExampleConduct profile analysis of

‘disconnected’ to identify target

sectors

3

Retail Banking Services - Locations

Victoria is the Region of Retail Banking Services, most under-represented

Case ExampleConduct profile analysis of

‘disconnected’ to identify target

sectors

3

Retail Banking Services – Seniority Levels

Seniority Level 7 of Retail Banking, is the most under-represented

Target: Retail Banking Services, Level 7 Staff, start with Victoria

Case ExampleEnroll peer level influencers into targeted change

initiatives

4

Focus on Retail Banking In Victoria for Level 7 +/- 1

Most Connected/Influential

The Branch Support Manager is best placed to influence the critical mass, followed by team service leaders

Case ExampleEnroll peer level influencers into targeted change

initiatives

4

Initial Focus on Retail Banking Services Level 7 +/- 1

Most risk of being ‘Disconnected’ at levels 6,7,8 in Retail Banking in Victoria

# M

emb

ers

in e

ach

Ro

le

Roles not part of the ‘connected’ group at any level

The ‘New’ Cultural Change by Design

For sustainable change, designed interventions will require more than changing the organisations chart. They will require insights into the networks that underpin them.

Impact – Network Centred Cultural Change Examples

• Major Airline Supply Chain Challenge– Key influencers identified and engaged

• 15% increase in supply chain efficiency• Parts turnaround from 26 days to 13 days

• Petroleum Firm Knowledge Sharing Culture Challenge– Baseline performance measured with repeat study

• 5% increase in reserves identification• Well shutdown avoidance ($750k/day saving)• Increases efficiencies in evaluations ($200k)

• Major Miner Rail Operations Collaboration Challenge– Baseline performance measured

• Key value exchanges identified• Accountabilities built into ‘lean’ Goals