At GB Learning Consultancy we offer a range of services to help you and your organisation manage change:
  • Change and organisational development consultancy
  • A variety of training courses in managing change and transition
  • Coaching and individual support to cope with change
Our approach to managing change in organisations is evidence-based, which means we only use tools and techniques that work. We draw on the work of a number of the world's leading experts on change, including John Kotter, whose practical, eight step framework for implementing change has become a change bible for managers all over the world.

We also draw on the work of Eric Abrahamson, who argues that change can often be achieved by recombining existing elements of an organisation into new, more useful configurations. This approach is based on five key principles:
  • Redeploy rather than downsize
  • Leverage social, not IT networks
  • Revive values rather than invent new ones
  • Salvage good processes rather than re-engineer them
  • Re-utilise existing structures instead of reorganising them
At an individual level, our approach to helping people cope with the often debilitating psychological aspects of change is based on the work of William Bridges and John Fisher, both of whom have written extensively on personal transition. Many of their ideas resonate with the work of Elizabeth Kübler-Ross who wrote about loss in the context of death and dying in 1969.

At the heart of our philosophy of change is a strongly held belief that people need help in negotiating the psychological effects of transition during times of change. If change takes place without people going through a proper transition process, it's just like rearranging chairs and people will not have changed deep inside. In order to be able to manage change effectively, people need help in negotiating three stages:
  • Firstly, they have to let go of the old world and their previous identity. Ironically, this beginning phase is an ending when people need help in coming to terms with their losses.
  • Secondly, people have to pass through what Bridges calls the “neutral zone”. The old has gone but the new isn’t completely in place yet. The “neutral zone” is the time when psychological realignments and repatternings take place.
  • Thirdly, people emerge from the transition and embark on a new beginning. This is when new identities are developed and people can begin to discover the new sense of purpose that makes the change work.
Ultimately, the success or failure of change initiatives depend on whether those touched by change do things differently afterwards. If people believe in the overall direction and purpose of an organisation, they will change their behaviour to meet the organisation’s purpose. However, they need to understand the role their actions play and believe that it’s worthwhile for them to play a part. It’s not enough to tell them that they will have to do things differently in future.

Unfortunately, change is rarely easy or straightforward but often messy, difficult and painful. At GB Learning Consultancy, we have a great deal of experience of helping organisations and their people to manage change and transition. Give us a call – we’re here to help you.