Navigating Change with Effective Communication With Janet Uhrig

Welcome, dear listeners to the Speak In Flow

podcast where we share unique experiences to help you unlock

and unleash your leadership voice. Today we have Janet

Uhrig, who is an HR director at Pima Community College, she has

over 20 years in human resources. So glad you're here.

Hi, Janet.

Hi, Melinda, so lovely to be with you today.

Thank you so much for being here. I'm so excited

about this topic. So let's dive in. Because you pride yourself

in change and helping organisations move through

change. And I mean, this is if there's change, there's nothing

constant change is constant, right? And probably even more so

with all the technology happening. And so organisations

really need and leaders need to perk up their ears on how do we

effectively manage this. And you've done this quite a bit

within organisations to help leaders. Yes,

that with certified senior professional and human

resources, like you mentioned, with over 20 years of experience

in currently, my role really encompasses some strategic

leadership policy, talent management, employee relations,

and making sure that our strategic goals are aligned with

the college. And so and really just fostering a positive,

productive

workplace. Yeah, building that productive

positive culture within the organisations, the public

sector. And so with all the change that's going on, what do

you think is one of the most challenging things that leaders

have around communication?

That's a good question. What are some of the

major challenges I've seen across my career has really been

ensuring clear communication between departments and across

the organisation. A lot of times, organisations will even

within their own departments or divisions have its own jargon

and priorities, right, sometimes can be competing. So some, some

instances of misunderstanding or misaligned expectations can

have, you know, hinder dynamics. And so really making sure that

you're developing communication strength like standardising

communication, travel channels, even within the organisation,

and of course, active listening is one of my favourite tools.

Yeah, so they're having challenges with clear

communication. Because there's so much going on and different

priorities and people. There's misunderstandings. Yeah, so how

do we develop those clear communication channels? And then

what about the transparency? You know, when things are happening,

having authentic transparent conversations? What do you what

do you think about that?

Absolutely. But it's especially important when

it can be shared, I know you and I had previously talked about

what's appropriate to share in HR. And it's, it's interesting,

because a lot more than you think in terms of, of course,

the opportunity to be transparent. So some of that

starts the very beginning with communicating your vision and

mission of the organisation making sure that you're having

specially managers are having regular checks and check ins

with their employees, making sure that you provide open

forums where employees can voice their concerns and creating that

psychologically safe environment. So that really

encourages two way communication. How to start

that.

And how do you is so let's say I'm a leader, and

there's a change about to happen? What is the best way to

go about doing that? And

initially, right, there's going to be some what's

widespread concern about job security and changes in roles?

So the initial communication if you're going through a

reorganisation, or, or the opportunity to, to shift or any

kind of change is to make sure you're dedicating Communication

Task Force. And that can include folks with from different

departments and different levels, so that you are ensuring

that kind of transparent, timely, empathetic communication

throughout the process of change. Sorry,

yeah, what happens? I mean, I love the idea of a

taskforce, right, the more people with you in your team

that can share the information appropriately, the better. And

what happens? How can I know what to share and what I mean?

What if there are like, Yeah, I'm doing a reorg. And I have to

there are some employees I'm about to lay off. I can't share

that. How would I as a leader know what to share and what not

to share?

I think early and often communication is

important, especially when you're talking about budget,

right? The the opportunity to partner with in human resources,

a lot of times when Not Matt are daft to ensure that we control

the budget. And so working with your financial team to make sure

that you're transparent about where the status and where the

projections are, because then the organisation will know oh,

we're going to have to look at what we can do together and that

planning ahead so that you're not waiting last minute to kind

of encourage kind of fear and confusion about job security. A

lot of times in organisations, we route especially at Pima we

really try to make sure that there's regular updates were a

little bit different in terms of organisation because we have a

publicly elected board. And so making sure it's required of us

at the state level to make sure we are having transparent, open

communication through those meetings. But many

organisations, even without that kind of oversight can do that

through regular updates about through either emails, or I know

a lot of organisations like townhall meetings, question and

answer sessions, the opportunity to keep everyone informed about

the progress and what to expect next.

And how have you seen the companies actually be

successful at this?

I have, there's a couple of different

organisations, right, I've seen a lot of opportunities where

where you, you kind of go down the wrong turn, where you're not

regularly updating, and it feels like a surprise to individuals.

And so that's hard, harder to control, right? The best people

will often leave those organisations and then you're

left with the opportunity to figure out how am I going to

staff in addition to, you know, keep and retain folks. And so

that can be challenging, and one of the ways especially managers

can have an impact is to make sure that they are having those

one on one discussions with their team and members

addressing those individual concerns. And a lot of times

it's providing, you know, personalised support. And as it

relates to leading that team,

again, you said, being curious and willing to

listen and what it's like you've done that, have you listened,

and they still don't want to do that the change their resistance

to the change? Have you seen leaders be really successful to

helping people overcome the resistance? I like to say

that you're engaging your ostriches, right,

right, change is gonna happen, whether they like it or not,

right, the opportunity for for folks to stick their head in the

sand and say, no, no, I don't want to do this. You you have to

then be more intentional and provide some of those feedback

loops, right? Especially when we're talking about

communication. A lot of times engaging those surgeons to make

sure that you what are their concerns? How can an engaging

them to help problem solve that? A lot of times working with your

the harshest critics in the organisations can be helpful,

right? Because that feedback is important. So how do we address

feedback? How do we address those subsequent subsequent

communications to ensure that you can alleviate and then those

folks can become your biggest agents. And so I've seen success

and really engaging instead of leaving them off on the side of

the road, if you will, really engaging them and bringing them

along to help you solve those problems, I found has been

really helpful for organisational change.

Interesting,

interesting, because I would have thought

that it would be Hey, get the Allies get the people that are

at the tipping point, the people that are really resistance,

spending so much time on them, that could be quite daunting.

It can I think the opportunity, right? The nice

thing about folks who are ready and willing to change is they're

gonna, they're gonna make it happen. And so sharing the

information freely explaining those decisions is easy. But

when those decisions, a lot of times, folks are the uncertainty

of why those decisions are being made, and so helping explain the

reasoning behind them. And maybe they're hearing it in a way that

you hadn't thought about it. So right neurodiversity can can be

maybe that's an issue for some of the communication and so

thinking about well, if I explain it in a different way,

what are some of the contexts that helps reduce the

speculation that maybe is really the stomach problem that folks

are having with it? Right,

right. So digging real deep about what is the

resistance out there? Because I think a lot of times when

leaders communicate change, they have, oh, here are the key five

things that you're concerned about. And that's everybody. And

even if it's something similar, it's really listening to the

person's story. What is where's it coming from? Giving them the

opportunity to to express it? And then and then seeing how,

like you said, maybe there's ways that they we can problem

solve often gather.

Yeah, especially encouraging that two way

communication. Not only are is the manager or the employee, you

know, active listening, right, they're able to, like you said,

share their thoughts share their concerns, but you're then

showing them that you value their input and the opportunity

then to be another way to enact that as that open that typical

open door policy, right, if they are going to feel comfortable

expressing their concerns, that you'll be able to engage their

issues and questions. And so the other piece of that is making

sure you're having consistent communication. Right. It's, it's

one thing I think you mentioned a little bit earlier to have

that kind of deep dive, but that can be applicable across the

organisation and regular updates, right, can help

mitigate some of those, those change fears?

Yeah, so whenever an organisation or team is going

through any change, you got to triple your communication. I

mean, you thought you're already communicating.

It's the I think that's the biggest thing,

organisations will feel oh, well, we've already told them,

right, the average human needs to hear something three to seven

times I think that the research says And so yeah, communicating

is not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to change.

Right? Right now it's not in communicating a

different perspectives, different store their stories,

statistics, visuals, different modes, email, townhall meetings,

one to ones,

right. And like you mentioned earlier, the

transparency and challenge. So really, when you're, when the

organisation is facing that challenge, be upfront about it.

Make sure that you you know, and if you can explain what's

happening, why it's happening, and then how you plan to address

it. And if you're open to suggestions, getting those

suggestions from the team and saying, Well, what, yeah, let's

get the suggestions. We'll talk about what does that really mean

in implementation. And then thinking about, well, here's

what we can do. Often organisations will be stuck in

terms of funding or, or the opportunity to, to create

change, right? If there's something that if there's a

move, that's has to happen, a lot of times those are going to

be the standardised kind of things that you have to do, but

then how you address it and how you work through it together.

can do some trust with employees?

Right, right. So I'm sorry that the audio the

last statement that you said, working through together is what

you said, though, how do you went in and out a little bit,

but that's okay. For you can hear most of it? Oh, does that

what you said that you're working together on this? And

and so my last question is before is this so juicy? We can

go on for probably five episodes. You mentioned that

you're involved with DEI efforts. How has that been? How

do people I mean, we're still rolling out a lot of dei and BD

IB. I hear nowadays, diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging,

which is awesome. How has that changed been like for

organisations?

Well, even across the country, I think that that

are having some, some challenges in those areas, our organisation

and institution is is one that is committed to that engagement

and importance, right? The opportunity for not just our

student population, but our employee populations to show up

and be seen and, and feel like they belong. And so the

opportunity to really, I think it's really leading by example,

and demonstrating transparency and the communication is, is

what helps that belonging and the opportunity to have folks be

able to show up and be seen for who they are and what they

contribute to the organisation is important. And so in terms of

belonging, diversity, equity inclusion initiatives, I think

in terms of organisational rights, so much of Human

Resources has been gatekeeping. And so sometimes that can be

helpful in organisations something sometimes it can be

harmful in communities. And so thinking about ways to create

systemic change around diversifying the workplace,

providing training and resources, the opportunity to

have transparent processes, those are all ways that human

resource professionals can can help in those areas of

diversity, equity and inclusion.

Wow, you have a lot. You have a big role and

it's such an important one, especially in our communities

and our colleges today. I mean, you I did say that you're an HR

director, but you like to hear how you do so much more in terms

of talent management and employee retention. And so

really kudos to you for doing all that. It's a lot of effort,

but I think it's paying off. I know it's paying off with all

the students and the staff and the faculty and the families. So

thank you so much for sharing that Janet.

I appreciate your time Melinda, I love your your

the work that you do and, and all of your web webinars and

podcasts and training. So thank you for all that you do. It's

really important work.

Let's continue to do it. Let's continue to raise

our leaders bring people together and yes, celebrate our

unique differences celebrate all of our special strengths that

each of us have. So thank you so much, Janet. And I trust the

listeners got so much out of this episode. I know that

there's a lot more that we can cover. Maybe someday I'll Jenny

can come back and dive deep deeper into change management.

But until then, take care all much love to you. See you soon.

Bye Janet. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Melinda