Change saturation is scary, and it’s real.
We all have a ceiling for how much change we can consume at one time, and when that ceiling is reached, change saturation is the emotional response to our “change gas tank” being filled.
We use that gas when we start to adjust more to the change being presented to us, but when it’s filled, we simply have no appetite for any more change for the moment. Change saturation can occur when an organization implements too many changes at one time or when an individual experiences too much change at one time.
Let’s dive into why change saturation matters so much for both employees and companies. It’s like overeating. When we eat beyond full, we start to disengage – we lounge on the couch, eyes rolled back in our heads a bit, ready to nap, or we get an uncomfortable feeling in our gut that can make doing anything else pretty unpleasant.
When people are hit with too much change all at once, they can start to check out—they feel disengaged, like they’re just going through the motions. Stress levels climb as they try to juggle everything, and burnout quickly follows, where they just don’t have the energy or drive to keep up. Distrust can sneak in too, especially if they feel left in the dark or unsupported, which can make them question leadership. All of this can lead to feeling dissatisfied in their jobs, and before long, you might see more people calling in sick because they just need a break.
For companies, these reactions can really slow things down. If employees aren’t on board, new changes don’t get implemented well and projects can stall. Productivity takes a dive, and people might start leaving for jobs that feel less chaotic. This leads to more turnover, extra costs for hiring and training & deadlines may get missed. All of this can add up to financial losses that hit the company hard. Spotting these signs early is key to avoiding burnout and keeping everyone on track without overwhelming the team.
Recognizing change saturation early goes hand in hand with being able to do something about it. Being able to properly assess and identify when your employees aren’t hungry for more change is an important skill for leaders. One of the biggest signs of change saturation is a drop in employee morale.
In an ideal world, we are all excited to come to work! And though we may not all feel that way all the time, there still should be good days during just about every work week. If you notice consistent days where employees are upset, burned out, and have dropped in productivity, it may be stemming from an overload of change in the workplace.
Here are three tips on what to do if you start to recognize change saturation:
Tip one – Prioritize what comes first.
When implementing changes in the workplace, step one should be prioritizing what should come first. Find the things that are time sensitive and need to get done first and implement those changes.
Maybe some changes, for example, are critical because they directly impact our ability to deliver our products and services or they’ve been legislated by a regulatory body. Maybe there was a recent regional storm, and a significant set of our customers have told us they need more of our “T-51s” in order to survive this season. Maybe our original plan had us moving on to our T-52’s this month, but we need to change the plan and keep producing T-51’s. To meet customer demand, we’ve got to make that change first, and that’s time sensitive, because without the T-51’s those customers won’t be able to rebound from the storm.
The next change on the horizon was going to be a cool remodel to our shop floor which was going to improve some productivity and get things through faster. That sounds really nice, and really important. But could come after the T-51 rush is done. There’s no need to do both at the same time, and overwhelm all of us.
Tip Two – Help your employees increase their change appetite
Like athletes preparing their muscles for a competitive event, we can help build change muscle memory in ourselves and those around us. This can include offering training and coaching, providing tools and resources, and giving employees opportunities to practice change management skills on small changes so they’re ready for bigger changes.
Another strategy for increasing change appetite is helping teams recognize the process of change. Change, after all, is a process, not an event, and leveraging the process-minded folks in your organization to help us approach the upcoming changes as a process, using their continuous improvement mindset to help improve the process of change.
Time is another factor to consider. Just as we can’t all control how fast we get hungry again, making sure that individuals feel like they have enough time to prepare properly for any change will go a long way to making each change feel a little less stressful.
Tip Three – Communicate well!
As a leader, being completely transparent with your team while you are implementing change can be a massive stress reliever during the change process. One of the most extreme reactions people can have to change is when they are blindsided by change, and they don’t feel properly prepared for it.
A few different ways to create that completely transparent communication is by using multiple different channels of communication. It’s critical to ensure that your team can access the information about the change through different modes of communication such as video platforms, intranet content, email, wall and bulletin board updates, face to face large group and small group meetings, and even texts and instant messages where those are appropriate. It’s also important to make sure your team knows how to reach you with questions, and that all messaging isn’t just one-sided – that there’s plenty of opportunity for two-way conversation.
Tailoring your specific communication to specific departments is also useful in the change process. What applies to your marketing team may not apply to your sales team, so adjusting what you say and making it person to person specific will make your change process smooth and swift.
Here at Your Clear Next Step, we work hard to offer you tools, tips, and understanding so that you can better mitigate change saturation in the workplace. Which one of these tips are you going to implement first to make change saturation less of a risk where you work, and what results do you expect to see? We can’t wait to hear about it and to celebrate your success with you!
If you are interested in learning more about change, feel free to check out our blogs and on demand webinars on those topics. If this information resonated well with you, and you want to be a better change agent where you work, you might be the perfect candidate for our Change Makers certification program! Please reach out to us on any of our social media channels to learn more, or check out our website!