The real question you should be asking yourself is: can you afford to not think about change management?
Change management is important because it helps organizations effectively plan, implement, and manage changes to their operations, processes, and systems. Change is a constant in today’s business environment. The better equipped your dealership is to embrace and exact change, the better you will be able to seize technologies to stay competitive in the market.
Here are the three biggest challenges your dealership can come up against when implementing change.
1. Resistance to Change
Without an effective change management organization, dealerships face a wide range of negative consequences, such as resistance to change. Resistance to change is the biggest factor when it comes to change management. We all know change can be unsettling for employees.
If your team is resistant to change and doesn’t understand why change happening, it is likely because they’re not being consulted or even involved in the change management process. They may feel that they don’t understand why it’s happening and why it’s needed for the dealership, for their department, or even for their actual position. That’s why it’s important to include them in the change process.
Effective change management can help identify and address these concerns early before they become a major issue.
2. Disruption to Operations
Change can disrupt operations, especially if it’s not managed properly. Effective change management can help organizations minimize disruptions.
Change can be time-consuming and also requires a lot of effort from employees, which tends to reduce their productivity. Effective change management can help organizations plan and prioritize these changes so they have a minimal impact on employee productivity.
3. Increased Costs
There is the potential of incurring additional costs that are associated with implementing a new change management process. Make sure you have someone that can manage and identify these costs as they arise, so they don’t lead to increased costs for a department or the overall dealership.
Change management is important because it helps the organization manage change in a way that minimizes disruptions and maximizes the benefits of the change by using proven change management strategies and tools.
Organizations can ensure that they’re well-positioned to adapt to new changes, challenges, and opportunities in a rapidly changing market.
Read Part 2 to learn the 7 essential steps for real, efficient change management.
