A recent report identifies change fatigue amongst employees promoting many to consider going to work somewhere else. Whereever you work you will experience the disconcerting impact of relentless change. The difference between organisations is not the change agenda ,the need to transition, the drive for greater efficiency or the introduction of new technology but whether change is imposed or negotiated. By negotiated I don’t mean to imply that employees can veto change, “ no thanks we don’t want to do that” I mean employees can be consulted and empowered to influence how change is introduced. This is a way to ensure that the planed changes will work since those expected to make it work will have a real say in the design and implementation.

It is not change that exhausts, frustrates and exasperates employees but how change is implemented. Uncertainty causes anxiety, lack of information is frustrating, unrealistic time scales, failure to fully consider implications and a lack of consultation with those expected to operate under the new arrangement is exasperating. Resisting change is exhausting.

Changes range from major reorganisations to opening over the lunch hour. Sometimes small changes can can generate a disproportionate amount of resistance but not in this case. As part of adopting a more customer forced approach and making services more accessible the organisation decided that offices should no longer close to the public at lunch time.

Rather than simply announced this decision would be effective immediately the senior management team recognised there were staffing issues to resolve to ensure the safety of employees and continuity of service. Individual offices were asked to come up with their own arrangements and time scale. There was no resistance and offices quickly came up with local solutions.

Whilst this was a small change some employees considered managers deciding when they could have a lunch break and the idea of staggered lunch breaks a radical departure from existing practise. What this example does is illustrate a collaborative approach to managing change which reduces the risk of leaving employees  feeling exhausted and frustrated.