In this episode, Tammy delves into the critical aspects of properly vetting and selecting the right resources for successful organizational change initiatives. She discusses why it's essential to ensure that organizational change management (OCM) candidates are skilled and align with organizational culture and vision. Tammy highlights the importance of both hard and soft skills, shares best practices for vetting OCM candidates, and gives tips on identifying the right candidate after the vetting process. If you know someone who would benefit from this episode, please share it with them! Sharing is caring, and if that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing the show! This helps me support more people, just like you, who want to embrace the messiness as they know it can lead to lightbulb moments.
Click here for the ultimate OCM Interview Question Guide!
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[00:00:03] Welcome to The Messy Mind Podcast, a show to support you in seeing the messiness can lead to your life bulb moments. I'm your host, Tammy L. Davis. Welcome back to The Podcast. I'm so glad that you were here.
[00:00:21] And today I'm tackling a crucial and really I'm going to say critical aspect of organizational change management, which is properly vetting and selecting the right resource for successful change initiatives.
[00:00:39] So you may be asking yourself why is Tammy devoting even more time on the basis of why it is so critical, why is it so crucial to properly vet your OCM and I'm just going to say OCM as opposed to organizational change management because that tends to be a tongue twister.
[00:00:59] So why am I devoting time to really talk more about properly vetting your OCM resources? Because in our industry, in change initiative transformations, the stakes are incredibly high. We, as consultants, are often tasked with steering organizations through significant transitions and the right people are crucial to that success.
[00:01:30] Properly fitting ensures that we have team members who are not only skilled, but also aligned with the companies or organizations culture and more importantly the change vision and truth be told I'm tired.
[00:01:45] I'm tired of companies, organizations, municipalities, federal government agencies thinking they are bringing on the right resource only to find out that they have gotten a dud. And what I mean by a dud is someone who is ill equipped to serve in the role as an OCM resource.
[00:02:10] An improperly vetted candidate can delay projects can harm team morale and of course can even jeopardize the success of the change initiative. So understanding this, the question now becomes what to look for when vetting OCM candidates.
[00:02:31] Another way to look at the question is what should leaders focus on when vetting candidates for OCM roles?
[00:02:40] I always like to emphasize a blend of hard and soft skills, and I know this because we are often asked to sit in interviews when they are going through a vetting process with OCM resources.
[00:02:55] And that's one of the first things that I like to look at a blend of their hard skills and their soft skills. First, you want someone with a solid grasp of change management models in frameworks like codder or even ad car.
[00:03:11] You definitely want them to have a solid grasp and equally important is their ability to communicate effectively, manage stakeholder relationships and have the ability to inspire trust and motivation across diverse teams.
[00:03:28] Yes, it's a mix of technical expertise and emotional intelligence and dare I say emotional intelligence is key. You need someone who cannot only read a room but who also has the ability to handle resistance empathetically and drive consensus. So let's dive into some of our best practices.
[00:03:52] Here are a few vetting strategies that I found to be most effective. We all know that a thorough process is paramount and it is best to start with detailed job descriptions and it is best to start with detailed job descriptions and competency requirements.
[00:04:13] Going to interview used behavioral questions to get insights into their past experiences and ask those situational questions to assess probably solving skills. And never, never, never. It does not matter how well or amazing they come across in the interview never skip reference checks.
[00:04:37] They as you know provide valuable third party neutral insights into a candidates' past performance and work ethic.
[00:04:48] And what I think I'll actually do is post a link in the show notes where you can download interview questions for your OCM resource interviews that's broken down into 4T areas such as behavioral interview questions situational interview questions technical skill assessment and cultural fit.
[00:05:11] And I want to touch upon cultural fit you want your OCM resource to resonate with your organization's values and someone who can thrive within your culture. I also recommend involving various stakeholders throughout the organization agency municipality wherever you work.
[00:05:32] Various stakeholders in the interview process to gauge fit from multiple perspectives and lastly, you should know the signs you've picked the right candidate. In other words, once the vetting is over, how can you tell if you truly selected the right person?
[00:05:52] Well, you can look for early indicators such as how well they integrate with the team, their proactive nature, their ability to influence positive change even in the small ways.
[00:06:04] You definitely can get feedback from their peers and quick wins can also be telling signs that you made the right choice.
[00:06:12] The impact of the right candidate extends just beyond their direct responsibilities, and I want to say that the right OCM resource can transform the energy of a team and accelerate the adoption of change throughout an organization.
[00:06:30] Remember, the success of your change initiatives, all thin hinge on the strengths of the individuals you bring on board. Take the time to vet therely and choose wisely. In this episode, we'd appreciate a rating on Apple Podcast or simply tell a friend about the show.
[00:07:10] Always remember to embrace the messiness. It can lead to your light bulb moments.