Deploying Your Influencers in Times of Change

In recent times, businesses have found themselves in a shifting landscape. During these times of change and challenge, engagement, culture and leadership has assumed even greater importance. Having clear direction and strategy in these interconnected areas will mean relatively greater engagement and confidence from your employees and other stakeholders.

Quickly grasping the networks of influence that exist within your organisation can also enable you to successfully navigate the change, and be on the front foot, from a people and talent perspective.

How can you identify the Influencers in your organisation and use them to best advantage in times of change?

Influencers are the most acknowledged and socially connected employees in your organisation, as nominated by the people who directly work with them. They are your true opinion leaders, whether they are in formal leadership positions, or not. People go to them for advice, feedback, inspiration, and meaningful discussions.

Influential employees reach on average around 70% of your total workforce through their informal networks, in comparison to the reach of senior leaders which averages around 5%. Mapping your influencers allows you to:

Better support your employees in their understanding and acceptance of changes.
Transform into a more productive workplace by uncovering critical employee connections and communication strengths or weaknesses.
Accelerate development initiatives and pave the path to a successful transition and outcome.

How do I find my Influencers?

OrgMapper is a powerful organisational network analysis tool which uses an original methodology to crowd-source data from employees across your business. The data provides you with an objective means of pinpointing key talent (influencers), rather than this being determined more subjectively by your line managers. Influencer profiles are determined by both professional capabilities and social connectivity, including the number of times they have been nominated for each of these by their peers.

By implementing this ground-breaking analysis in your organisation, you uncover the 3-4% of Influencers in your organisation, distributed across all business areas, geographical areas and hierarchy levels. A definitive list of your company’s top Influencers enables you to confidently put together the most effective team to plan and deploy your development and change initiatives.

To read more about the difference Influencers can make, see these 3 Mini Case Studies, which show the results that can be achieved and the challenges that can be overcome.

Or if you would like to see how this could be implemented for your organisation and the results you could expect, please get in contact with me.