A Message from Ujima Donalson
Assistant Vice President, Total Talent Management
Last issue, I spoke quite a bit about change because POD had just introduced two new offerings (The Learning Lab and the Leadership Café) and was in the midst of staffing changes. We are still on a roll, with a new program launched and staff to go with it, along with hires to replace two retirees. I invite you to read about the launch of the Partnership for Organizational Excellence and our new consultants below.
Change management is a perpetual hot topic among leaders, HR professionals and just about anyone in the training or OD world, but what we tend to not hear about as much is the aftercare. In POD, we’ve checked the boxes on many changes this year, but as a leader, in many ways the work of those changes has just begun.
The new team members are bringing an incredible energy, fresh perspective and wealth of new ideas, and I have to say, it is quite an exciting time for me and for POD. That said, we must continue with the care and feeding of those who have been here for many years and have built our successful programs and well-oiled processes. It’s not just a matter of honoring the contributions of our veteran staff. In truth, we’re quite a complex operation and the new folks don’t yet know our history or understand all the ins and outs of our revenue lines, business areas and stakeholders.
In short, there’s a few potentially hazardous areas to be mindful of and to manage. There’s the tension between not dampening the spirit and enthusiasm of our newest team members while also ensuring that existing approaches and processes are valued and respected appropriately. In addition, while the new folks are still in the honeymoon phase and have a chance to get up to speed, the veterans are doing their usual work but with the additional push and pull of mentoring, ad hoc training and the like to help our new colleagues. The possibility of burnout is high.
There’s also a pitfall to be avoided. Even though we’ve experienced quite extraordinary levels of change in POD just this year, you almost wouldn’t know it because I have a team of high-performers who continue to meet the demands of a busy office, recharge center, daily training and consulting gigs, and almost nonstop workload. It would be easy to take this at face value and turn my attention elsewhere. The truth, however, is that the team has gone from 11 to 14 and half of those staff are new.
That puts us in quasi-forming mode; we are not a newly formed team, yet the team as it stands is newly formed. I need to ensure infrastructure is in place so that our learning organization keeps learning about each other and our styles as well as about our programs and processes. In addition, I need to provide opportunities for the new people to feel like they can contribute without fear of rocking the boat or not fitting in. That will mean actively listening to and supporting people on all sides and working to position everyone not just for POD as it exists now but for the future.
Spring is typically our busiest time in POD, but this year we are really springing forward. I feel incredibly fortunate to welcome such amazing new talent to the team and also fortunate that we can provide them with such a strong and successful team and operation to join.
Despite the challenges that accompany change, I am truly looking forward to this new season as my team and I build POD 2.0!
