Why Organisational Change Needs to be Created Horizontally and Not Just Vertically.

Change is inevitable in any organisation striving for growth and improvement. Traditionally, change has been orchestrated vertically. Going from the top down. The leaders at the top decide on a strategy, craft a change plan, and cascade it down the ranks for employees to implement. This method seems like a logical rational sensible approach. 

However, real-world results tell a different story. According to Bain & Company, a mere 12% of large-scale change programs achieve lasting success. The reason? Vertical change often fails to account for the realities faced by those on the ground.

The Pitfalls of Vertical Top Down Change

When change is dictated from the top down, several issues typically arise:

1. Practical Problems: Employees encounter day-to-day challenges that may not be visible to the leadership. 
2. Increased Workload: Change is often viewed as an additional burden of time and energy. Increasing stress and workload.
3. Fear of Negative Impacts: Employees may fear that changes will disrupt their routines or negatively impact their roles
4. Customer Relationships: Worries about how changes will affect customer experiences and their interactions and relationships with staff.
5. Loss of Familiarity: Change can induce a sense of loss, as employees may be required to abandon familiar processes, tools or relationships.
6. Skepticism About Benefits: If the benefits of change are not clearly communicated or believed, or not felt directly by the employees themselves. They are less likely to buy in.
7. Fear of Blame: Concerns about being blamed for failures during the transition can cause employees to resist or minimally engage with the change.
8. Lacks Diversity: A change with a limited range of stakeholders involved often lacks diversity. Meaning important and marginalised views and insights are not taking into account.
9. Increased Bureaucracy: Top down change is also often accompanied by new rules reporting and controls that all have to be enforced.
10. Lack of Engagement: Because people have not chosen to make the change themselves this can create negative perceptions of the change and a stressful environment 

When faced with imposed changes, employees often resort to objection, minimal compliance, or exit strategies, leading to the high failure rates of top-down change initiatives.

Embracing Horizontal Change

To foster successful and sustainable change, organisations must shift their approach from to horizontal as well as vertical change. Horizontal change involves integrating change efforts across all levels of the organisation, encouraging collaboration and peer support. Here’s how horizontal change can transform your organisation:

1. Coordination and Coherence: Change initiatives become more coordinated as they are implemented across departments and teams, creating a unified approach.
2. Peer Learning and Support: Employees are more likely to listen to and learn from their peers, who understand their day-to-day realities better than top-level leaders.
3. Adaptive Solutions: Operational challenges are identified and addressed more swiftly, as employees work together to find practical solutions.
4. Mutual Support: A culture of mutual support is fostered, building relationships around the change and reducing the feelings of isolation that often accompany change.
5. Normalisation of Change: Change becomes a normal part of the organisational culture, making future changes easier to implement.
6. Safe Conversations: Safe spaces for dialogue allow employees to voice concerns and ideas without fear of retribution.
7. Reduced Isolation: Collaboration helps employees overcome fears of being left out or isolated during the change process.
8. Coordinated Issue Escalation: Problems are escalated in a coordinated manner, reducing randomness and ensuring prompt attention.
9. Shortened Feedback Loops: Continuous feedback between teams and leadership helps to quickly identify and rectify issues, improving the change process.

Implementing Horizontal Change

To effectively implement horizontal change, consider the following strategies:

1. Peer Support Groups: Establish groups where employees can support one another through the change process. These groups can provide practical advice, emotional support, and a sense of community and work with people’s psychology to re-orientate them to the change
2. Change Champions: Identify and empower change champions at various levels of the organisation. These individuals can advocate for the change, address concerns, and provide guidance.
3. Inclusive Planning: Involve employees in the planning stages of change initiatives. Their insights can highlight potential issues and improve the overall strategy.
4. Transparent Communication: Maintain open lines of communication. Regular updates and forums for feedback can help keep everyone informed and engaged.
5. Training and Development: Provide training that equips employees with the skills and knowledge they need to adapt to new processes and technologies.
6. Coproducing the change: Rather than present the change as a fixed plan we can increase the rate diffusion of innovation by coopting the different groups of people in the change to reflect their needs. This means that people are more likely to buy into the change and reduce their uncertainty and delay in changing.
7. We can also learn from and co-opt the passion and motivation find in other things in their lives such as team sports harnessing them as tools for change.

Conclusion

To maximise the success of change initiatives, organisations should embrace a horizontal approach alongside vertical changes. By fostering a collaborative environment where change is co-created and supported across all levels, organisations can overcome resistance and achieve lasting improvements.

What are your ideas and experiences of how we can better do horizontal change? Share your thoughts in the comments below!