“Connection between employees” showed the strongest correlation to influencing changes into an organization based on our findings regarding leadership and workplace conditions.
Factors Which Can Influence Changes in an Organization

In a recent survey with readers from our weekly newsletter, 99% of the respondents answered that change is necessary in their own organization. So what are important factors needed in bringing change to an organization?

From our organization survey regarding leadership and workplace conditions, we used the question item "my company does not rely on methods and ways of thinking that were successful in the past, but always implement new methods and ideas" to represent "changes in an organization" and looked at which factors were strongly related to influencing changes in an organization.

Research conducted by Coaching Research Institute, 2014

As shown in Graph 1, our study showed that “connection between members of the organization” had the strongest correlation (correlation coefficient = 0.78). This was followed by “expectation towards goal accomplishment” (0.72) and “structure of the organization’s business operation” (0.68)

So what are specific actions and behaviors which demonstrate connections between employees in an organization? There were several question items under the “connection between members of the organization” category in our organization survey. With further analysis, we found that the following items showed the strongest correlation with “changes in an organization”.

1. Even if different opinions arise, they are resolved through a mutual desire to understand each other’s point of view. (correlation coefficient = 0.80)
2. Members of the organization proactively share their experiences, knowledge and expertise with their colleagues. (correlation coefficient = 0.79)
3. Members of the organization cooperate and work together regardless of their departments. (correlation coefficient = 0.74)

In other words, when these actions and behaviors were demonstrated more often, members of the organization felt there were more changes occurring in an organization. As members with different opinions, positions and departments proactively build stronger connections; they are in effect gaining new perspectives and are more likely to take different approaches.

Based on our findings, we can conclude that these connections are what can influence changes into an organization.

Research overview

No. of Samples:

3,455 direct reports of leaders from 98 different companies

Period:

September 2011 - April 2014

Survey method:

Web-based survey

Survey tool:

Executive Mindset Inventory
Organization survey regarding leadership and workplace conditions