Women at Work- How Happy are You?

There has been a lot in the media lately about Women in business.   Especially since Sheryl Sandberg, FACEBOOK executive, wrote the book LEAN IN, about Women, Work and the Will to Lead.

The book’s media has brought to light age old issues about women in the workplace.  We are treated differently, we are paid differently, we are mentored differently.  While I do believe things are getting better, generally speaking, we have a ways to go.  It all stems from your ability to be happy at work.

Failure to Launch

Companies spend millions on new systems to help streamline processes to improve productivity and increase efficiency.  However, they often allocate just pennies on change management strategies which are often the deciding factor between success and failure. 

It is essential to ensure impacted associates understand how to operate in their new world and can adapt to the new systems and to processes. If they can’t adapt, the initiative will fail. Success hinges on preparing the organization at all levels for what this new world will look like and how associates can be successful within it.
When we change the working world, the people operating within it lose a sense of what success looks like. It’s up to the change management partners to make sure everyone understands how they transition from old to new and how to be successful.
The No. 1 reason enterprise projects fail is because they don’t have adequate executive leadership support or sponsorship. Without leadership, 56% of projects fall behind schedule and 37% run over budget.
More than a third of projects are considered complete or partial failure, and less than 20% fully achieve the stated objective. Without strong leadership behind the change process, employees express confusion and frustration because they lack of support and direction. They become disengaged, which increases mistakes, reduces productivity, causes turnover, and leads to the failure of the project.
The responsibility of the C-suite as leaders is to get behind the critical initiatives that are tied to new technology, but they rarely serve as an example of proper adoption — they talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. It’s not enough to speak about the importance of change. Their actions need to support that sentiment because that will set the tone for the entire organization.  Company executives need to champion the change by speaking about it at every opportunity, asking questions, getting feedback from associates on the transition and holding people accountable for the success of the implementation. Also, they need to let go of the old system and embrace the new. They can’t tell associates to get out of their comfort zone and then ask them to generate a report from the old system.
It’s helpful if executives present the benefits of making the change. Talk about why the new system is being implemented and the benefits to company and employees. Also, set realistic expectations. Give associates time to learn and be patient with their questions and concerns.