Who are you?

Who are you?

It’s one of those existential things that many – myself included – grapple with.

My husband has been known to frown in introspective perplexity and say, “I don’t even know who I am!” I’m sure that’s something most of us can identify with – again, myself included.

Especially post-pandemic, when we all questioned a lot of things about ourselves and our lives.

What we don’t think about as often is the identity of the company we work for. Yet it has a significant impact on both how much we enjoy our work and on how successful the organization is at creating change.

Workers of all generations want to align themselves with employers whose values and purpose provide meaning to them. This has always been true to some extent, and post-pandemic – it’s even more true.

If the change you’re trying to create seems to be creating dissonance with the current and historical identity (values, purpose, mission, vision, etc.) of the organization, you will encounter resistance. In extreme situations, you’ll probably also discover some of your best people heading for the exits. People aren’t willing to tolerate a disconnect between their values, what matters to them, and how they feel the company is changing.

And please note that I said “seems to be” creating dissonance, and “how they feel” the company is changing.

It’s about how employees perceive the change, not how you intend it to be.

Which means it’s on you to have purposeful – intentional – conversations with them about what will stay the same as the organization evolves.

This question of identity is just one of three factors that are part of all change – successful or not. Want to know more? Drop me a note through my contact form and we’ll set a time to talk.