Change is Ahead in 2021

Around this time last year many companies were setting goals and themes for 2020. We saw many companies grab onto the 20/20 vision concept—setting their goals and themes to center around company purpose and vision. We certainly got more than we bargained for. We never could have predicted that COVID would become a magnifying glass that would quickly, and, in many cases, painfully reveal the health of our companies. Can we function remotely? Can we keep all of our employees employed? Can we remain profitable? Can we stay afloat? Can we change, adapt?

Looking ahead at 2021, many businesses are going to experience a lot of change. There’s no way around it if you want to succeed. COVID has changed how we are doing business, and businesses are going to need to respond to the insights they gained from this last year and find ways to grow even in unpredictable environments.

PFSbrands is considered the Living Laboratory for GRITT Business Coaching, and they’re living this. As the company wrapped up 2020 and set its goals for 2021, its leadership set in motion major organizational changes to push growth initiatives. This isn’t out of PFSbrands’ comfort zone. They are a company that is constantly measuring performance, setting goals through GRITTrac, and looking for ways to make the company better for its employee owners and partners they serve.

Not all companies have a culture where change is expected and embraced. Many companies live under the mantra of “we’re a well-oiled machine.” We’ve done it this way forever and it works great. These companies often have tenured employees with strong loyalty to the company and deep industry experience. In addition to those characteristics, though, they also tend to have a strong resistance to change. Work is lofty, and much of a person’s identity comes from the work they do. When you push for change, you could be unknowingly declaring war on some of your employees’ core identities. This makes enacting change and creating buy-in for that change monumentally challenging for leaders in that type of environment.

So how do you get change from being that unwelcome, unfamiliar guest in your organization to an embraced, and maybe even exciting, component of your organization? There’s no one size fits all approach to changing company culture to be more agile. Having a well-constructed strategy from the get-go, though, is vital. There are countless factors to consider: defining priorities, changing job roles, structure changes, expansion, and more. Your team’s buy-in is vital to the success. That’s why taking the time to evaluate your business alongside third-party experts through Business Coaching is worthwhile.

GRITT Business Coaching is made up of a team of experienced business professionals crossing multiple industries and areas of expertise. They’ve lived major organizational change, and they will work with you to learn your organization and then craft a strategy for implementing change in a way that doesn’t just minimize damage and backlash, but, most importantly, optimizes the company for success and growth.