Professor Julie Hodges is a leading expert on change in organizations, particularly the role and impact of people during transformations. Before entering the academic world Julie worked as a business consultant for over 20 years in several profit and non-profit organizations, including PwC, Vertex, and the British Council.
In academia Julie has held a number of senior leadership posts including Associate Dean. Julie has published in several international journals on change in organisations. She is the author of several books including: ‘Consultancy, Organizational Development and Change’ (Kogan Page); ‘Managing and Leading People through Change’ (Kogan Page); Sustaining Change in Organisations(Sage); ‘Employee Engagement for Organizational Change’ (Routledge); ‘Organization Development: how organizations change and develop effectively’ (Palgrave McMillan); and ‘Reshaping HR: the role of HR in organizational change’ (Routledge). Julie’s latest book on ‘People-Centric Organizational Change’ was published earlier this year. Julie is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, an Academic Fellow of the ICMCI (International Council of Management Consulting Institutes) and a Senior Fellow of the Foundation for Management Education (FME). She is also a member of the editorial board of the ‘Management Consulting’ journal.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with Higher Education Digest, Professor Hodges shared her professional trajectory, insights on the most common mistakes organizations make when implementing people-centric strategies, her favourite non-academic books, biggest stress relivers, words of wisdom, and much more. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Hi Julie. Please tell us about your professional background and areas of interest.
Before entering the academic world in 2006 I had a very successful career working as a business consultant for over 20 years in several profit and non-profit organizations, including PwC and Vertex. My first role was with the British Council where I was the Development Consultancy for East Asia.
What do you love the most about your current role?
Teaching, researching and doing consultancy work in the field I am passionate about – which is people-centric change.
What are some common pitfalls or mistakes organizations make when implementing people-centric strategies?
Transformations are notoriously challenging especially because they are not just a one-off single activity but involve multiple simultaneous events. Despite this shift there is still an over reliance on linear n-step process frameworks, for managing change, that tend to be based on one-size-fits-all top-down strategies. The idea that a major change can be designed and managed as a discrete episode of activity is no longer fit for purpose and indeed rarely has such an approach achieved the speed or new behaviours that are required. Such frameworks don’t tend to reflect the complexity and multiplicity of most transformation initiatives but instead try to simplify what is a dynamic process that is becoming more so as change continues to happen in non-linear ways. This is why in my latest book on “People-centric organizational change’ I have developed the Business Transformation Cycle which is a cyclical framework based on my research and experience.
What role do leaders play in driving people-centric change, and how can they create a culture that supports it?
To effectively navigate the disruption and uncertainty affecting their work and workplaces, leaders and managers must recognize the importance of shared responsibility among relevant stakeholders. However, merely understanding the need for distributed responsibility is not enough. Leaders and managers must also be willing to involve people in business transformations as early as possible and ensure that ownership of the change is grounded at the local level. To do this effectively requires clarity on who the impacted stakeholders are and who can influence the change, including those external to the organization such as vendors, partners and social groups. This means securing shared commitment and engagement from a diverse community of multi-stakeholders which is vital for enabling organizations to adapt and rejuvenate.
Changing mindsets
Change is only embedded when individuals and teams in the organization begin to work in new ways, adopt new mindsets, display new behaviours, use new tools, apply new processes and procedures. To make this happen requires involving key stakeholders in a business transformation as early as is feasible to do so. Engaging people in an organizational change has never been more important but to do that effectively the organizational culture needs to enable transformations to take root through a people-centric approach to change since culture shapes the way that business transformations are done. When organizations create a culture that supports people-centric change and opportunities to develop the skills to do it effectively, they are able to take forward new initiatives and to respond to external trends and forces of change. Consideration needs to be given as to what needs to change in the culture to make it people-centric so that it shifts to a collaborative, engaging approach with a focus on seeing the opportunities of change and enhancing wellbeing and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. A starting point for this is to update the organization’s mission statement, values and purpose to ensure that they reflect an explicit focus on people during business transformations. It is also crucial to ensure that the culture is rooted in the business context in which it operates so that there is a clear link between the need for change and how it will impact on the strategy, purpose and stakeholders of the organization.
Changing an organization’s culture is inextricable from the emotional and social dynamics of people in the organization which means that it can be very difficult to change the entire culture, instead a more achievable approach is to change parts of it which then, in turn, affect the whole culture. This is like dropping pebbles in a pond where the ripples from each pebble create interconnecting ripples across the pond. In such a way changing elements of the culture can happen through incremental changes which have a cumulative impact on the whole culture of the organization rather than a massive culture change programme. Changing elements of the culture starts with a clear understanding of the organization’s purpose and then driving behavioural change to match that purpose which can only be truly effective when leaders and managers take accountability for shaping and nurturing the culture since the fundamental elements of an organization’s culture are not changed by new thoughts or words but are changed by behaviours and actions that reinforce desired cultural attributes. This takes time and the message needs to be constantly reiterated in person by leaders and managers role modelling the behaviours that they want their workforce to demonstrate by adopting a ‘do as I do’ way of behaving and working.
Training and development practices can help to change behavioural elements of the culture by creating an understanding of the drivers for a transformation, the implications of not changing, a recognition that new behaviours and practices are required, and explaining how these new behaviours will have a positive impact on the culture. To ensure new behaviours stick training and development interventions need to be followed-up with ongoing support and coaching especially for individuals who find it difficult to move out of their comfort zones and change their behaviours and ways of working. For some people such a move can be very challenging, and they may need additional help, while for others who just blatantly refuse to make changes to their behaviour despite support and development, there may well be a need to exit them from the organization. Furthermore, it is important to recognize when the new behaviours are being enacted and provide subsequent positive feedback to individuals. Observing people doing things right and rewarding their positive behaviours is vital for ensuring that behavioural changes stick. Ultimately, integrating a people-centric approach to change into an organizational culture must be rooted in actions, norms, behaviours, and practices over time.
How do you stay up-to-date with the latest research and trends in organizational change?
Reading journal articles about the latest research, networking with business leaders and managers, and doing the research for my books.
What are your thoughts on gender equality and inclusion? Do you think there is a gender bias in your industry?
When I first joined academia there was much more gender bias than there is now. Although there is still some bias in terms of males in senior academic positions, publication output, and funding for women, progress has been made which needs to continue. .
Is there a particular person you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are?
I have had mentors, at different stages of my career, who have been helpful. I am especially grateful to the mentor who gave me advice and support in transitioning from business to academia.
What is your favourite non-academic book and why?
That is a difficult question for me since I am an avid reader and narrowing it down to just one book is hard. Recent non-fiction books I have read which I have found thought provoking include (but are by no means limited to):
A Sorrow Beyond Dreams: Peter Handke Paperback
by Peter Handke
The Blue Between Sky and Water Paperback
Mornings in Jenin Paperback
Wandering Souls
by Cecile Pin
Dust Child: The International Bestseller Hardcover
What is your biggest stress reliever?
Running every morning before breakfast.
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
Building on what I am doing now – continuing to improve my teaching, sharing my knowledge and research into organizational change. Writing my first novel.
What advice would you give to leaders looking to embed people-centricity into their organization’s DNA?
A people-centric approach to change is founded on stakeholder engagement. This means involving people in what needs to be done and how it can be done better rather than just telling them this is what must change. Stakeholders, therefore, need to be involved in idea generation and in discussions about the specifics of the transformation and what it will mean for them. This requires a focus on: Who the key drivers of the transformation are; Who will be affected; Who needs to be involved; and Who the key stakeholders/groups are who need to be involved and how they will contribute to it. This assumes engaging stakeholders in all the elements of the Business Transformation framework, whenever feasible to do so. Engagement is, therefore, about having the right diversity, equality and inclusivity of people involved and then ensuring that the right people have the right capabilities and capacity to take ownership of making the transformation happen.