Elements that play a major role in sustaining organizational change include effective leadership and constant communication. For change to be sustainable in an organization, there must be support from the top leadership. If change within an organization is to be maintained, then the desired behaviors need to be first exhibited by the leaders (Todnem, 2020). Leaders have a significant role in supporting the change by walking the talk and supporting the goals of the change when communicating with employees through actions.
Leaders have the role of developing and communicating the strategic vision and agenda of the change initiative to the employees to promote sustainable change. A crucial aspect of executing and sustaining change is for leaders to show deep commitment and alignment and then empower change agents to take part in its execution (Todnem, 2020). Furthermore, leaders need to foster continuing efforts to ensure that the proposed change becomes deeply entrenched in the employees’ behavior and the organization’s culture.
Sustaining change requires constant continuous dialogue and communication for employees to understand their expected attitudes, behaviors, and actions. Communication interventions can include educational efforts, coaching, mentorship, and review and evaluation (Stouten et al., 2018). The interventions can help employees understand the evolving effect of change, continuing efforts to sustain the change and the potential benefits of the change interventions. The vision of the change needs to be communicated frequently. Stouten et al. (2018) explain that the way the vision is communicated is vital for creating awareness and support for the ch
ange. The impact of vision can depend on the other messages set in its communication, mainly the level to which these other messages relate to the interests and concerns of change recipients.
References
Stouten, J., Rousseau, D. M., & De Cremer, D. (2018). Successful organizational change: Integrating the management practice and scholarly literatures. Academy of Management Annals, 12(2), 752-788. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2016.0095
Todnem, R. (2020). Organizational Change and Leadership: Out of the Quagmire. Journal of Change Management, 20(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2020.1716459
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