4. The need for consultation.

All the examples of change given earlier have a huge impact on the people involved.

One way would be to ignore their needs and simply go ahead with the change. Clearly this would be an inhumane way of going about things. And most likely resulting in a poor outcome for the organisation as well.

For change to be effective, the majority of the people involved need to be on board. They may not like the change, but they do see the need for it.

An excellent way of going about this is by consultation. This means inviting people to have an opinion at every stage of the process and to take on board some of their ideas.

Some negative outcomes due to poorly-planned or zero consulation

• People are demoralised as they may feel they have no say about what happens
• Staff start looking outside for another job. Staff turnover increases
• Performance and quality falls as people are less enthused
• May become harder to recruit new people as company reputation is tarnished

Some positive outcomes when a well-planned consultation exercise has taken place

• People feel empowered - they have a say about what is happening
• People are less stressed - they have facts to work within rather than rumours
• People are more confident about their futures - the change may not actually impact their career or if it does, they are reassured the company will support them
• Staff are willing to stay even though there will be tough times ahead