We recently saw an HBR article, ‘To Change Company Culture, Start with One High-Impact Behaviour’ that got us thinking about comms’ role in wider change.  

A quick summary of the article
 

Behaviour is central to all major change in organisations.  

Want people to adopt AI? You’ll need to influence them to use it.  

Want leaders to become more strategic, looking long term rather than aiming to hit immediate KPIs? You’ll need to change how they work and deliver.  

Want frontline workers to use a new portal? You’ll have to persuade them to get on that app.  

All these problems could be core to your business’ day-to-day capability, success, and strategy. And all of them have an underlying similarity. You have to influence the behaviours of individuals, across your organisation.  

So, what do most do? Education. Training. Development. Campaigns. Easy right?  

The catch 

As the article notes, despite HR or L&D or even Comms’ best efforts, training and education is seldom converts into actual behaviour change or ROI.  

An alternative – The 4T Model 

This is a different kind of behavioural model, all about making that change happen, quickly and effectively. The key is to focus in on one key thing at a time, and direct your energy there. The steps are:  

• Target – choose one behaviour to target for change. The one that will have the biggest impact.  

• Theory – how will you change this behaviour? Talk to stakeholders or employees or both to get an idea of any sticking points and best ways forward.    

• Timely intervention – design and deliver your intervention when it matters. E.g. motivating people to use AI when they have an AI tool in front of them.  

• Test – measure the impact of your intervention. Track if what you’ve done has worked. If not you can go back and adjust etc. 

Beauty in the simplicity 

With statistical success at organisations such as AstraZeneca and Nationwide Building Society, it’s inarguably effective. This theory is simple, but perhaps that is why.  

The comms place in this 

Whether you organisation uses the 4T method, or other methods of behavioural change such as wider education and training, Comms can play a key role in supporting wider programmes of change.  

The one thing that this model highlights, which we think can be often overlooked is the third T: timely intervention.  

Communicating things at the right time can have an enormous impact on the efficacy of a campaign, the launch of an EVP, a sales drive.  

If you catch people when the information is most pertinent it can be utilised and acted on immediately. No lag, immediate impact.  

This is not only about the impact, but about the strategic impact of comms. If comms are well-placed, it reduces the noise too, boosting the likelihood of the important stuff being heard, and embedded. And this is what really gives you that ROI.  

So, next time you think about a big change going on in your company, make sure to get comms involved, engage that tactical mindset, and bolster that impact.