(upbeat music)
- Sangbreeta, thanks so much for being here.
- Thank you!
- What I would like to talk about
is the human process when it comes to organizational change.
What we see a lot is that, if organizations are changing,
or when organizations are changing,
'cause it's a given that they are changing,
there's a big component we'd call fear
amongst employees, afraid,
the status quo, what's comfortable,
and now we have to change.
How can an organization, how can individual employees
deal with that fear to change?
- Well, I think that's a really relevant question right now,
'cause every organization that I meet
is going through massive change and transformation.
First of all, I see often that people are even afraid
to admit that they're going through change.
They see it as something to be ashamed of,
afraid of, feel guilty about.
So, the first thing that I think we have
to make really normal is, it's okay to fear it.
Per evolutionary biology, our brain is not equipped
to be comfortable with change, as much.
So, what is the current experience
that's happening in the world is basically,
we're jumping in the middle of a very comfortable pattern
that we've become used to for years in our workplace,
and we're completely messing it up.
But, at the same time, what we're also doing
is we're disrupting certain patterns,
and we're creating new patterns.
So, I think the first part is acceptance,
that this is going to be maybe uncomfortable for a while.
The second thing that I think is very important for change
is for also people to accept that, yes,
they say "the higher you climb, the harder you fall",
but there are so many ways to reinvent who you are.
And, if organizations can support their employees
on focusing their identity to not just rely on a job title.
Their identity to not be defined
by a bullet list of skillsets.
Their identity not to simply be defined
by what you do, but who you are,
and who you are for whoever you work with.
I think if we focus on that, who you are versus
what you do, you stay relevant for the future.
You stay, it doesn't matter what change
or transformation an organization goes through,
that workforce, that individual, will always be relevant.
- It's fairly easy to say "don't be afraid of change."
Because, when people are in a comfortable position,
change can be very scary.
So, how do you, in a very practical way,
make people less afraid of change?
- Yeah.
The first thing I think is important
for us to acknowledge is, it's okay to fear it.
First of all, we have to acknowledge the pink elephant
in the room, because you're thinking about the what-ifs.
Some people are supporting their family,
some people are worried that
they will not have enough money,
so it's okay to acknowledge that the limbic fears exist.
Let's not try to avoid it.
Once you acknowledge it, the next step is,
"how are you going to deal with it?"
So, for me, one of the things I often ask people,
and this is where we get really deep into it,
is sit down with that individual
and find out, "What are you so insecure of?
"What are you so afraid of?"
And, you will notice that the fears are rather superficial,
because they have allowed their identity to be reflected
by only a job they do, and they're afraid
if the job is taken away from them,
they don't have an identity.
They don't know how to introduce themselves,
and I'll give you a very short example.
I was contacted by a senior director
from, well, a mega Dutch brewery, okay?
And, the organization had gone through
a massive reorganization,
and this gentleman who had worked in the organization
for many years, was a senior director,
had now gotten a good severance package,
but had been let go
because, you know, automation has taken over.
And he reached out to me, saying,
"All my life, I've been comfortable,
"perhaps I've been one of the lucky ones.
"I graduated, got a job, was friendly enough,
"grew to roles, I was a senior director.
"But now I've lost that.
"20 years on, I actually have to redo this process,
"I have to search for something new.
"It's not like I don't have money, I do,
"but I just don't know who I am.
"What do I tell people?
"The job I was doing kind of doesn't exist,
"or won't exist in the future,
"so what do I bring to the plate?"
And for me, that was a revelation,
because here's a gentleman, so experienced,
but he's been so focused on just the what he does
that he's forgotten who he is beyond that title.
So, I think the first question
I would ask anyone fearing change.
Let's say you tell me you are a program manager,
innovation manager, whatever you do, IT consultant.
My question to you is: let's have a game.
I'm going to take away your job title from you right now.
You can't tell me what you do,
and you can't tell me a bullet list of skillsets.
Can you explain to me the value that you offer people?
Can you explain to me how, by who you are
and what you've learned and what you've analyzed,
how you serve the people you work with?
Whether it's your employee, whether it's your leader,
or your consumer.
I think that's my first question.
- How do you go from that to trying
to reinvent the new skills that people need?
- I have a acquaintance/friend who works
in communications in a university.
Now, she's very good in her job,
she's great at communications, manager,
whatever they have to do, internal external communications.
But, if you ask me if I had to ever hire her
or recommend her for something,
what she's absolutely fantastic at
is her insane vision.
That woman has to be the world's best planner,
almost to a level that would scare you.
And, I think for any organization to have
a brain like hers, that can manage
this insane helicopter view of every operation,
every task, every movement
that's happening without micromanaging.
She just happens to be that aware,
and can think 20 years ahead, I wouldn't see her talent
as a communications specialist or a communications manager,
I would see her as someone with an insane vision.
That's what she brings to the table.
So, I think a lot of times, we allow a particular job,
or the very technical set of skills
to define your talent or your value.
I think we have to change that,
and understand what really value means.
Do you have insane foresight,
are you a fantastic self-starter?
Are you someone who can manage a lot of teams,
manage a lot of distracted minds,
like a person who runs the sleds with huskies?
You can manage all those energies,
and take them to the North Pole.
Who are you, really what is your talent,
what is the core value,
and how does that help you serve people?
So, I like to shift the attention
from the title to the talent.
- Yeah, and so from those core skills,
and from the layer below the skills, in a sense,
you come up to, "What is your core value?
"What is your contribution that you can make?"
And then from that, you're building it back up,
and seeing, "Hey, what are the opportunities
"that I can bring value in, and potential jobs
"that then I can work in?"
If I understand you correctly.
- Not just work jobs, but also show people
why you're relevant.
You know, a person-- - Yeah, 'cause I think
that's difficult, showing people that you're relevant.
Especially when you come out of a job,
and you were an accountant at a bank,
and poof, your job is gone.
So, how do you make sure that others think you're relevant
if you say, "I want to go on a marketing team"
when there's people who have five, six, seven years'
experience in marketing?
How do you compete with that?
How do you show that relevance, of a curious thing?
- Yeah, how I show that relevance.
I gave a talk at a marketing conference.
Right after, this gentleman approached me.
And, he is a founder of a product,
and this is something that really is valuable
for large organization, I can't say more.
It's about human behavior, basically,
but it's a fantastic product.
This gentleman has also worked
in one of the world's largest organizations
that focus on the same needs.
Started his own thing, and when he was meeting clients,
the clients said, and this is for sure
not a college drop-out kid.
This gentleman, as I'm saying, using the word "gentleman",
is well-experienced, well-matured enough.
And, the clients, whenever he would go into these meetings,
said, "Look, we believe your product, we believe in it.
"We're not just sure you can lead this."
And to me, that was crazy,
because again, he's not a 20-something year old kid
with idealistic aspirations.
Why aren't they believing in his authority?
And I think a lot of times, people struggle
to show their relevance because they struggle
to show their authority.
One of the big patterns you will notice
in many organizations is,
we like to bombard people with choices.
We like to bombard our customers with choices,
we like to bombard our clients, leaders with choices.
Like, "These are all the three things
"you can do, take your pick."
And, why we do that is because, we don't have
to take the stress of decision-making.
That person has to make the decision,
my job is done, I get my pay or whatever.
I get my success in.
But, I think the way to change that,
to show your relevance, to show your authority,
I want to ask people, "How are you going to stop
"or shift from bombarding people with choices
"to taking away the pain of decision-making?"
You know, Barack Obama once said something
in an interview when I was researching
what creates true authorities
that a job type, or more.
He said, "Whenever a request comes into my desk,
"I know immediately, this is a request for something,
"for a decision that is so painful and stressful
"for anyone else, that they would rather have me
"take that severe stress and pain of that decision."
And that blew my mind.
So, you can do a small, little test in a restaurant.
Go and ask the waiter when they come to you,
"What do you recommend?"
You'll get three kinds of people:
one say, "I dunno, everything's nice (fake laughs)".
The second will say, "Actually, this, this and that,
"they're my favorites, you should go for it."
And the third, the last kind of people will ask,
"Well, what do you like?
"Do you feel like spicy, do you feel like creamy?
"You like spicy.
"Do you like asian, do you want more Peruvian
(coughs) "or American kind of salsa flavor?
"You like asian, in that case, I highly recommend this one."
There are three kinds of people you will meet
who will show their relevance to you
by showing how they even share their ideas with you.
And, to me, being able to show your authority,
being able to show your value,
and taking away the pain of bombarding me with choices
is step number one to adapting to change,
to showing your relevance to people.
- That's interesting, your talking about putting authority
in the function itself.
So, putting it as low as possible in the organization
so that decisions can be made by the people
who are relevant, who have to make
those decisions, essentially.
And, one of the other concepts, I think,
that blends in is the idea of job crafting.
So, you have a role, and your role evolves,
or should evolve, at least, especially in this time.
And, your skills need to evolve, as well.
And you can evolve the skills that you acquire,
you can bring them in in the job,
and then change the job at the same time.
And I think this concept of job crafting
is also very relevant in this context.
- It's not just about what you did
or what you studied, but it was a reflection,
like a kaleidoscope, of all your greatest talents
coming together to now create this amazing platform.
- To wrap this up, what are the three ways
that HR should empower employees in order
to make this happen, to give employees more power
and more of the possibility to evolve in their jobs,
and evolve their skills, as well?
- I think to make sure that every employee
is really living their best in their work.
Being brand ambassadors for the organization,
but also being relevant for the future.
Three simple skills, or three simple elements:
authority, show me your value beyond your job title.
Take away the pain of decision-making
from the people you serve, instead of bombarding them
with choices, which the digital and tech world
is doing, right now.
Number two is authenticity.
How do you want them to feel when they work with you?
What is that one feeling that is synonymous with you
in whatever job you do, regardless of everybody else
who's doing the exact same thing as you,
or wants the same thing as you.
Because, in the what we do, we are not unique.
Everyone in the world is doing something similar.
And, the third would be adaptability.
How are you adaptable in your core values, your mindset,
your performance, and your mental well-being?
Earlier in the talk, today, they mentioned
that the brain, apparently 3% of our body is the brain,
but it uses a quarter of our energy.
We take this tiny, complex organ,
bring it to work in a closed space,
and then we bombard it with information.
How are you taking care of your mental resilience, as well?
I think authority, authenticity, adaptability.
Deep dive into them, and I feel
it will transform human potential for now and the future.
- And it's up to HR to enable that in employees.
- Thank you, take care! - Thank you very much.
My pleasure. - (speaks foreign language)
- Thank you very much.