“We never stop,” Eleanor explains. “We never build stop into a transformation change. All we do is just build and build on the change.”
If you’re a HR professional managing change in your organisation, staring down another restructure or redundancy programme, this might be exactly what you need to hear.
The Reality of Change Management
We’ve all seen the beautiful change curve in training – that smooth line from denial to acceptance. Eleanor has a different image for what change management actually looks like in practice.
“It’s a blue ball of wool for the employees you’re trying to support. It’s a pink neon one for yourself. And the leaders are perhaps some sort of beige. And it’s mixed and it’s got knots in it.”
That’s what sits in the middle of any change programme. You can pretend it’s a “beautifully knitted finished scarf” if you like but it’s actually a basket full of tangled wool with knots in unexpected places.
When HR Professionals Become Martyrs
Eleanor sees HR professionals leading change whilst being at risk themselves. They keep going like martyrs, not allowing themselves to process what’s happening to them personally.
“At some point it crashes. And you think, what was the point of that?”
The uncomfortable truth? If you’re the person who’s just told someone they’ve lost their job, they probably don’t want you trying to fix the world for them.
The best people Eleanor’s seen have been honest: “I’m finding this a bit hard too. I’m going through stuff but let’s try and work out how I can best support you.”
A Five-Step Change Management Framework for HR
Eleanor’s developed a framework that deliberately interrupts our tendency to just keep doing.
- Pause: Create space to step out, look around and think about what’s happening. This isn’t a three-week holiday. It’s stepping back so you can step back in with more intention and better results.
- Mess: Get uncomfortable and embrace that things are changing for you too. Acknowledge the tangled ball of wool instead of pretending everything’s smooth.
- Play: Shift from doom to possibility. “What if this could be good? What if I can find a solution?” Play with questions without needing all the answers yet.
- Try: Take small, achievable steps. Eleanor once faced a 10% budget cut. Instead of redundancies, her team tried a four-day week. Nobody lost their job and a year later everyone was reinstated full time.
- Restart: Take full ownership. Stop the blame, stop the distractions. Choose what happens next with intention.
Making Consultation Real
Most employees think consultation is just a tick-box exercise. “They’re not really gonna listen to us. It’s a done deal.”
Imagine the cultural shift if you used this framework to show people you genuinely mean it, that you’re open to playing with ideas and trying different approaches. It’s a different way of managing change that builds trust rather than eroding it.
Skip the Clichés
When Eleanor was made redundant, someone told her: “When one door closes, another opens.”
“It came from the right place. But wrong timing. We were like, yeah, don’t need to hear that crap right now.”
The best advice? Don’t say anything. Just create space. Hold space for someone who’s just lost their job and simply say: I’m here if you want to talk.
Your Challenge as a HR Leader Navigating Change
Stop pretending you can have everything on a Gantt chart. Stop ticking milestone boxes whilst ignoring the tangled wool in front of you.
Create space to pause. Get comfortable with mess. Play with what’s possible. Try things that might not work. And when you’re ready, take full ownership.
Because change isn’t going anywhere. We might as well get better at it.
Eleanor Tweddell‘s new book, “Another Door Opens: Five Steps for Navigating Change in Life and Work,” is available now.
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