How do you get middle managers engaged in a culture change programme?

Developing People work with the leadership teams in many organisations, most of which are wrestling with the need to change.

This drive for change can come from a variety of sources both internal and external. Internal drivers can be a new vision and strategies for the business, new service approaches or new products, the need to up-skill managers and staff, or the need to replace employees who have left or for management succession planning purposes. External drivers can derive from marketplace changes, new technology, increased competition, Globalisation, changes in Legislation or relevant Regulations and last but not least the effects of the recession on business trading and finances.

Regardless of what these drivers for change are, they are usually first understood and articulated by the top leadership team in the organisation. After all it is a key part of their role and responsibility to develop their vision for future and the strategies and action plans that will produce the desired change. However the top team cannot bring about these changes by themselves and they need to enlist the support and commitment of all employees in the organisation - starting with the middle managers below them.

Recognising this need is a key first step and then comes the challenge of getting the middle management team on board.

The sorts of stages that the top team need to take the middle management through are these.

• Awareness of the need to change
• self-awareness of where they stand and their role in this change process
• an understanding of what, why, where, when and how things need to change
• involvement in supporting, challenging and agreeing the core changes
• commitment to playing their part in communicating and implementing these changes
• drawing up the change plans and timetable
• starting the journey of actioning and implementing these changes whilst bringing the rest of the employees and key stakeholders "on board".

This may all sound logical and straight forward but successfully implementing the change programme is far from being easy.