Translating Change Management for the Modern Multinational Workplace

In a survey conducted by Gartner, today's organizations, on average, experience at least five significant changes in their firms in three years. About 75% expect that there will be considerable changes in the following years to come. It confirms that today's multinational workplace is too complex for a one-size-fits-all approach to change management.

It can be hard to implement change management and even more when implementing it in a multinational workplace in different countries and regions. What change management theories to incorporate in your strategy? Should you seek professionals like a translation company to help translate company policies and implement multilingual training for the workplace's region?

If you want to learn more about this and the best practices in implementing change management, keep reading!

What Exactly is Change Management? And Why is it Important?

Change management is the transition process and implementation of new goals or technologies. It takes a systematic approach to change its structural and managerial aspects.

When positive change is applied correctly, it can save much time and effort for businesses. Change management is the process of applying positive changes to companies. Change management responds to all types of business risks -- the pandemic is a prime example.

The modern multinational workforce has to regroup and respond to the changes in the pandemic, the shift to remote work being a prime response to the changes brought about by the pandemic. A change in response to a risk that might appear minor but could affect the whole business is what change management is for--major or minor changes.

The strategies for change management involve a lot of consideration as it needs to anticipate the impact on the company's system and employees' well-being. The process of change management requires planning and testing it out, communicating, scheduling, documenting, etc.

There are several reasons why change management is essential. One of them is introducing cultural diversity in the workplace because it promotes creativity, productivity, adaptability, local market knowledge, etc.

However, the Business News Daily discussed how multicultural and multilingual workplaces experience challenges that involve stigma and prejudice, cultural and linguistic differences, and issues from unclear expectations. They examined four ways you can best lead a multicultural or international team:

(1) You will need to dismantle cultural differences,

(2) Mitigate language gaps,

(3) Accommodate with cultural customs, and

(4) Avoid creating unnecessary artificial divisions.

Now, let's discuss the theories on change management and best practices you can refer to when planning a strategy.

Past Theories on Change Management

There are many theories on change management out there, but we've only listed two, as follows:

Lewin's Change Management Model

The creator of this theory was Kurt Lewin, a physicist and social scientist. His analogy for implementing change management in a company was a block of ice.

Both a block of ice and change management undergo three stages:

(1) Unfreezing - employees resist and try to stick with the status quo.

(2) Change - communicating with your employees and beginning to implement actions toward change.

(3) Refreeze - this is the state wherein your employees have gotten used to the new routines and changes.

If you need to retrain local employees, you might have to employ the expertise of a translation company because, as previously mentioned, language barriers can hinder the progress of change management. Some studies have shown that non-English speakers pick up skills and learn faster in their native language.

You can map out the progress of your change management and determine what stage you are in under this model. Although this model is relatively old, it is still relevant to change management today. Later, we'll talk about current practices in change management.

We also suggest you work with a translation company earlier in the change management process than later because it'll be easier to ensure that your new policies and articles of incorporation comply with the local laws and regulations.

The Current Best Practices on Change Management

When implementing change management into your multilingual workplace, there's a lot of factors you have to consider, such as cultural nuances, language barriers, time zones, etc.

We've gathered some insights from five leaders from their respective companies regarding change management and how they went about implementing changes into their companies, as follows:

Best Practice #1: Account for Language Barriers with a Translation Company

Ofer Tirosh, the CEO of Tomedes, an international translation company that manages a remote work model, gave some insights regarding managing a multinational workforce. We got his insight because Tomedes has followed a remote work model since 2007 and has about 50 teams in Israel, the Philippines, Europe, and North America. Tirosh has a good grasp on change management and making your organization flexible for regional-based operations.

"Each country and region has their own work culture. If you're planning to implement change management, you will need to research and have a good grasp of the work-related practices and customs of the country or region the workplace is located," Tirosh explained.

He said, "After you've done your research, you can begin to translate your change management in a way that best suits what your multinational employees. This could involve the number of paid vacation or sick leaves, insurance, etc. You don't need to change everything. If some activities or practices are due to their region's work culture, respect it especially, if it's not affecting your regional division's productivity and performance."

It can be easy to overlook language gaps and cultural differences when implementing change management in a multinational company because English is the default language used in business. However, not everyone is a native English speaker, and each region or country has its own culture regarding work ethics and company hierarchy.

It boils down to misunderstandings brought by gaps in communication. Due to this, we recommend that you look for a translation company that can assist you with language barriers and provide guidance regarding research on local regulations and laws for compliance with company policies.

Best Practice #2: Communicate that Why with the Culture in Mind

Sylvia Metayer, the Chief Growth Officer of Sodexo Corporate Services Worldwide, a company that specializes in food services and facilities management, stated that the WHY aspect is vital to implementing change within a company.

Metayer explained, "The world is changing very fast, so we have to create career paths, and we have to support the training of our people so that they're ready for change. It's quite an endeavor because it means shifting our organization from a very traditional model, which is very top-down, to one where we learn how to be collaborative."

When implementing changes in regional or international divisions, be mindful of your employees' cultural and social aspects. For example, employees get Christmas bonuses in some countries, and some have seasonal bonuses.

Depending on your company's budget and objectives, be open to these cultural differences and find the middle ground for negotiations on retaining or changing their work culture.

Best Practice #3: Business Ethics and Servant Leadership Matters

Melissa Reiff, the former CEO of The Container Store, a specialty retail company, stated that what makes The Container Store different from other companies is that it focuses on the principles of "Conscious Capitalism." Conscious capitalism is the concept of pursuing profits through ethical means, which would greatly help society.

Reiff explained, "We [at The Container Store] continuously strive to create a better, more innovative and compelling place to shop and to work, for the near and long term success of our company. That includes a relentless focus on doing what's right for ALL of our stakeholders by operating our business through the lens of our Foundation Principles and a commitment to conscious leadership."

Being grounded with the principles of business ethics will increase morale among your employees and foster servant leadership in their workplace. Servant leadership is crucial for any organization that wants to have strong members committed to its goals.

Having your plans and actions tailored around principles that promote the well-being of your employees and their local community will keep them motivated and focused on achieving both short-term and long-term goals.

Best Practice #4: Don't Set Things in Stone

Jay McDonald, the Master Chair of Vistage Worldwide Inc., an organization dedicated to peer mentoring, has stated that CEOs should have a trait of being open to learn constantly and to listen to others.

"The mark of a great leader is realizing—despite success—that there are still people who can help, and that it's OK to say, 'I don't know, what do you think?'" McDonald said.

To reiterate once more, you need input from employees when implementing changes into your management. By showing trust in your peers, they will be more open to the changes. Communication is a necessity and should not be considered an afterthought.

Best Practice #5: Deadlines are Universal

Gary Hamel, the founder of Strategos, an international consulting firm, wrote several books on management and concepts on "core competencies." He said that any organization and company that wants to become adaptable needs to find flexible people who can handle change.

"You can't build an adaptable organization without adaptable people--and individuals change only when they have to, or when they want to," Hamel said.

Like we've previously talked about in Kotter's Management theory, one of the things you have to take into account early on when planning to implement change management is to create a team of individuals who are committed, open to change, and have the expertise to back up the new implementations.

Setting clear expectations of your employees' tasks and adding them to the work that they have already been doing will make the transition easier. We suggest that in your change management, you could include attainable deadlines/quotas and weekly or monthly assessments where you can have open communication if they're struggling to achieve their goals.

Successful Change May Take Time

To successfully implement change management into your organization or company will require time. There are no shortcuts or easy ways out. Everyone has to go through the process.

At some point, there will be roadblocks because of those unwilling to adapt to the changes. Or due to issues in production caused by the new technology you've implemented. Whatever the challenges, it's essential to surround yourself with a support team to back you up with the change management.

This is why communication is vital, and despite having employees fluent in English, nothing can compare to reading and listening in your native language. So it might be a good investment to look into a translation company that can easily translate everything that they'll need for change management in their workplace. They will see this as a sign that you're willing to find a middle ground and that the new management values their workplace culture.

Remember, Lewin's change management theory states that after the new routines and work culture has been implemented, the organization will go through the "Refreeze" stage, wherein the organization is stable. So this period of instability and confusion will pass by eventually.