Today’s opportunity for vision and change
The coronavirus crisis has not only accelerated digitalization at numerous companies, it’s also put internal communication and leadership communication back at the top of the corporate priority list. Change is in full swing – and companies are striving to communicate it successfully. However, the transformation of corporate communications as such has also gathered pace in the last 12 months and we’ll end the year with relevant insights. Many employees are now open to new visions and change initiatives have a real chance to make an impact.
Visions for the bookshelf
In my many years in corporate communications and strategy development, I’ve encountered many corporate visions and strategy launches, or watched change initiatives come and go. Part of my job was to make them understandable and tangible for employees. I’ve always understood that a company needs a vision to attract good employees and to stand out from the competition. But over time, I’ve increasingly wondered how sustainable and effective all these programs and efforts to communicate the vision are, and what employees ultimately gain from them.
New boss, new vision
Typically, I would experience the following scenario: a new boss would start, bringing a new vision. In the end, that boss needed a way to define their position, give the employees an idea of where the journey was going, and prove to their superior that they deserved their promotion, etc.
The bigger the organization, the more visions there were
In large organizations, there was not only the CEO’s vision, but was also the vision of department xy, the vision of subdivision yz, HR’s vision and of course the global vision. Then there were various strategies and at least five pages of initiatives on how to achieve any given vision. What you ended up with was a bunch of confused employees who, despite a major strategy communication rollout, had never consciously registered the company’s vision at all.
Vision is regaining importance
Even today, there are still visions that are produced “for the bookshelf”. But in times of uncertainty and unpredictability, I believe that clear visions are becoming more important again and that change initiatives in many companies have a real chance of succeeding.
Employees are ready to embrace a new vision
Why? Because the sense of urgency to change has increased dramatically in many organizations in recent months. This is not only due to COVID-19, but also because the “purpose” movement of the next generation requires a clear vision. Moreover, process automation developing in our working world is increasing our desire to see the big picture. This makes us and our employees open to change and new visions.
It’s all about authenticity and uniqueness
Crucial in communicating new vision is the authenticity and uniqueness of the leader who stands for the vision. Does the vision only serve for positioning purposes or does the person in question really believe in changing the world a bit? If the latter is the case, the employees will also believe in the vision and be more willing to support it.
Communication must come from the center of the organization
What is important now is to understand that new visions cannot be communicated according to conventional methods. Leaders who are now heralding change must think carefully about how to on-board their people. The top-down approach won’t work. Rather, the vision must be communicated from the within the organization. In other words, employees must have the opportunity to be part of the vision. This means that the leadership task of current visionaries is to empower employees to embody change, to be the change.
