Any good change is a diamond: reflections from the CIPD L&D Show 2015

I was lucky enough to be invited by the CIPD to be part of the CIPD Learning and Development Show 2015 Blog Squad this year. I spent two days rubbing shoulder with some amazing HR, OD and L&D thinkers and hijacking their sessions and workshops to steal the knowledge gems and wisdom. You can follow my tweets from the day via @NHSRebecca and the buzz from the day using #cipdldshow - and here is the first of my blog posts from the day...

I attended a session entitled ‘Investigating New Ways to Drive Growth and Engage Employees in Change’ with Paul Taylor (NHS Employers), Tony Crabbe (BusinessPsychologist) and Jen Wright (Change Management Institute) which consisted of some thought provoking ignite talks and an open space discussion.

It was in Jen Wright’s ignite speech however when she produced the metaphor, ‘Any good change is a diamond… multi-faceted’ which pinged a light on in my head instantly for obvious reasons.

This idea that change was multifaceted was great – change can be and should be seen from different perspectives which will each have different needs, and each perspective will reflect the changes in a different light, but I don’t think it stops there.

Change is valuable, and desirable by many. Change is what prevents the status quo, what makes the world spin round and shakes up things from time to time. It is a rough ground substance, by which I mean that it forces organisations to look at their roots and founding ethics or key priorities and base any proposed changes to further these and improve the business. My work in OD is how I respond to that change, and how I can make my organisation and my staff more flexible and adaptable as a result.

Diamonds are formed at high temperature and high pressure – often a component when organisational change is brought into the mix. A change could be proposed by a senior manager and potentially under high pressure and heat from the rest of his or her senior team, it can be moulded into a ‘better’ change. The change proposed by management teams can then go through more scrutiny and pressure when staff are invited to comment and provide suggestions and ideas, if they are asked at all, but theoretically this should make the proposals into a ‘good change’ like Jen refers to.

Not one to shy away from my #stagey legwarmers, it is in the musical Wicked where Glinda and Elphaba share a lyrical exchange of ‘Who can say if I was changed for the better, but because I knew you, I have been changed for good’. 

Sustainable and long-lasting changes which build and improve relationships therefore could constitute a ‘good’ change otherwise what was the point in instigating and implementing it? But what constitutes a ‘good’ change? Reduce costs? Improve staff wellbeing? Push profit? Or merely just making a significant beneficial difference?

Any changes we make in our organisations need to be constantly re-evaluated to see if they are both fit for purpose and still making a positive difference to the business and the staff who deliver our priorities. And if not, it’s time to shake things up again; be creative and innovative whilst engaging those that the changes will affect – they tend to have all the ‘good’ ideas anyway.

Thank you to CIPD for inviting me to be part of the blog squad 2015.