When most of us step onto an escalator, we go into autopilot mode and check out. So, there may be something about a moving stairway that you haven’t noticed. Try leaning on the handrail throughout the duration of your next ride. In most cases, the handrail actually moves faster than the step you’re standing on.

Is your organization like an escalator? Is your management team moving faster than the rest of your employees?

If so, the impact might manifest in different ways. For example, just as one change begins to permeate the organization, the next one hits. As a result, priorities become muddied. Employees become confused – even disengaged.

The prevailing feeling becomes, “If we just wait long enough, this project – this initiative – this strategy, will pass like all the rest.”

Six things you can do to counter the impact on your employees:

1. Map your current initiatives – all of them.
2. Group them by themes – growth, employee engagement, operational efficiencies, etc.
3. Now, re-map them. Create a simple snapshot of how all of the pieces fit together.
4. Highlight the areas of the map that need immediate and consistent employee involvement to achieve your goals this year.
5. Recruit “internal involvers” (i.e., the natural influencers among you) to build momentum around the re-focused efforts.
6. Check in with your involvers ­– frequently. Assess hot spots and zero-in on them to reduce them to a smolder.

Don’t let your cultural hot spots burn out of control. Your employees are already feeling the heat.

Thanks for being involved today.