CONCLUSION
When taking stock at the end of a campaign, it is tempting to cherry pick statistics to support a rose-tinted view of what happened. But no campaign will achieve 100-per-cent success. At the end, there is often work still left to do. Keep in mind that there is no magic formula for managing large-scale change. It is different for every organization, and each experience will present its own peculiar challenges.
Nevertheless, as a leader faced with major change, you must:
Ensure that your company seizes the opportunity when senior management is open to organizational change;
Take a proactive approach to employee engagement, and be open and transparent in all your communications; and,
Work in tandem with other key corporate departments, particularly with human resources and communications, to achieve your objectives.
At Sanofi Canada, by engaging a total audience of over 425 employees we were able to seize upon a required facility change to precipitate a fundamental shift in organizational culture. By leveraging the opportunity presented by the move to an open-plan space, we have built an open culture at Sanofi Canada, one that is higher performing, while repositioning us for a bright future.
We may have started the change process at a place of common apprehension, but we are now far from that place. Today, our employees work in a beautiful open-space environment that makes collaboration and transparency second-nature. We are working better and are showing unprecedented enthusiasm in our approach to our jobs. We have never been more engaged.