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If you run a small business, the balancing act between responsibilities and demands on your time and effort can feel overwhelming. Anyone who has started or been involved in a small business knows exactly what it’s like to be in that place.
There is no template for navigating the experience. There are incredible resources, influential advice, support systems and more. Working through turbulent times is a little different for everyone, a specific path as unique as the individual and the company or organization they are committed to.
At the end of the day, however, one truth remains. The single most important resource for any small business isn’t time or working capital – it’s people. The people who get the business where it’s going, whether it’s a small team getting a project proposal to a client on time, someone resolving IT issues when a system crashes, or the person who helps get supplies where they need to be are. People are what matters; without them there is no business, no supply or demand.
Related: Apply These 4 Strategies When Leading Change
Understanding the pressures on the current workforce
In the uncertain and chaotic world we now live in, the knowledge of navigating an unpredictable workplace keeps both companies and employees on their toes. Depending on the source, the labor market has never seen such an extreme shift of power to the worker. Or conversely, a large proportion of those who sought a better work-life balance and changed jobs or careers during the Great Resignation now regret their choices and discover that the proverbial grass is not always greener.
There is a struggle to keep up with the consensus skills that employers want to see in their workforce. The stressors of the constant advancement of systems and processes can feel relentless, with new – and not always improved – hardware and software around every corner.
Taking the time to slow down and sharpen their workforce and the forces that impact them on a daily basis is one of the biggest steps small business leaders can take. These individuals and teams work to turn the potential of an idea or concept into something real. They are the ones affected by changes that are often easiest to achieve from the higher levels.
Related: What’s the Future of Work? A hybrid workforce
All changes in the workplace have a significant impact
The changes made by upper management are often made with the best of intentions to improve the workplace and improve the company’s possibilities of the future. Those making the choices may see a change as an easy choice, made with the benefit of deep research and data to comb through.
Individuals affected by the change on a daily — if not hourly — basis may view the experience very differently. From a shift in communications software to implementing a different pay schedule, from working in a hybrid setup to adopting a 4-day work week, changes, big or small, have a real, significant impact on individuals’ lives.
Helping employees process and navigate change is a critical skill for any small business, from 10 to 100 employees — all workplaces employ people and every individual is important.
Related: 10 tips for building a happy workforce
A smooth change requires knowledge of key practices for all stages of the process
The change process in the workplace can be complex; this is no different than in any other area of life, from helping a child outgrow their toys to adjusting to them California water restrictions.
Change is inevitable, but it doesn’t have to be dramatic or traumatic. Everyone benefits when leadership is fully committed to a positive employee experience. For small companies, it is easier to take into account the situation of employees. Management can benefit from following a number of key practices.
- Encourage open communication. Whether within teams, between teams or mutually from management to staff, communication during periods of change is critical. Consider holding brainstorming sessions between teams as you implement a process for management to receive and investigate the feedback
- Strive for clarity when explaining the intentions behind the change. Experiencing change without making a choice – and without a clear understanding of why it is happening in the first place – is a deeply distressing situation for employees. A lack of clear communication about the problem/solution process that led to the change will only create resentment and hinder smooth implementation.
- Give your employees a voice in the process. Few things erode trust between employee and employer more profoundly than a lack of respect. Ignoring input from those experiencing the change in the trenches will only hinder the process and damage relationships and morale.
- Create a timeline with a defined goal. Without a clear understanding of the implementation process and timeline, employees may feel that their work is constantly shrouded in the fog of change.
- Clearly and confidently define and communicate changes in expectations and evaluation of employee performance. Office morale can suffer if employees don’t have a clear understanding of the expectations for a position or role. When change occurs, the reasonable expectation is that measures of job performance may change. If not addressed in the process, the confusion can fuel resentment and high stress levels.
Related: 4 ways leaders can navigate change and find the hidden opportunities
Communication is the glue that binds a workforce together
Little in life is predictable, which some say is the point. That unpredictability is amplified in the work environment, where livelihoods are directly affected. Employees need more than lip service from their leadership; they are looking for employers who know how to properly support their staff.
Change is a process and real leaders are present at every stage of every change. That commitment is not only critical to the effective implementation of the change, but it is also a direct investment in employee well-being and company morale.
