Changes that are here to stay

Idioms for change

Have you ever experienced a major change in your company? Perhaps a new CEO? A different corporate focus or vision? The phasing out of products or the opening up of new markets? If these events also took place across different countries you’ve experienced change management on an international level.

The success of change management depends on getting hundreds (and in some cases thousands) of people to change the way they work. The longer someone has been working for a company, however, the more likely it is that the person will perform the job in a certain way and with a particular focus, and the more unlikely it becomes that the person will accept a major change. Employees will accept changes if they can see the reasons for them (and the CEO needs to come up with more than just “to make more money”) and if they can be persuaded to think differently about their jobs. That means changing their mindsets – which is no easy feat.

In our exercise, we look at some idiomatic expressions that people may use when talking about change management.

Deborah Capras