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How many times have you heard something like this in your organization? When posed with an organizational need, Human Resource groups jump to the challenge and create interventions geared toward meeting that one particular need. But Human Resources is only half of the equation. The other half consists of the organization's leaders and managers working with Human Resources to actually change how the organization does business.

Too often the human dynamics aspect of the change initiatives is owned by Human Resources alone. In order for long-lasting change to be embedded in the organization, managers need to be equipped to carry the initiative toward long-term, sustained change. In other words, the baton must be passed from Human Resources to Management for a return-on-investment (ROI) to be realized. If not, we as change agents only perpetuate the program-of-the-month club, and lose our investment.

Human Resources job is to equip the organization to change. The change itself, however, must occur within the ranks of the leaders and managers who influence the organization's success. Managers' role is to implement the change across the organization and champion its longevity as part of the culture of the company.

Some basic measures can take place to ensure this baton transfer occurs around initiatives. They consist of:

Human Dimension Change

Define What Is and What Is Not Changing - Be specific about what the organizational behaviors will look like once the change is implemented. Don't shoot for the moon if the change initiative won't get you there. Target definable areas and separate out the rest.

Involve the Leadership Ranks to Champion the Change - The leaders' job is to inspire and set organizational direction. Leverage their influence and ride the wave they create. You may not be the one on stage, but your efforts will be.

Develop a Plan to Cascade the Change Throughout the Organization - Embedding change requires a plan that is deliberate and modulated. One-stop change efforts largely fail. Sustaining change requires a long-term effort consisting of accountabilities from the top.

Pre-Training - Set the stage with management up front. Managers must be involved to champion the initiatives before they get launched. Make sure managers own the implementation by requesting employees to participate and holding them accountable for the results.

During Training - No training should be conducted unless it is real work oriented. Definable action plans must be established with participants in order to apply the training to their work efforts.

Post-Training - Here's where it gets tough. If there's no accountability from leadership for managers to apply the lessons learned, the ROI has not been maximized. Accountability must be held. Long-term review for progress must occur.

Let's look at our country's approach to health care as an example. There is a push to change the way our country's health care is managed. The change intervention required to accomplish this could be considered as the legislative ruling. However, a ruling could not occur unless political leaders and interested parties were aligned properly to pass the legislation desired. Once the legislation passed, a cascade approach of involving the entire health care system would be required in order to realize the benefits of the new policy. This would include health care providers, insurance companies, the legal entity, health care recipients, etc. It would not be until the change is realized at all levels that the change effort could be considered a success. Although the legislative ruling would be considered the critical intervention, this change effort could not be considered successful until it is embedded in every aspect of the American system.

This is but one of many examples of the systemic and holistic nature of change. Unless the entire system is operating according to the desired end state, the change effort cannot be considered successful.