My experience has shown that the only way to create permanent change in an organization is for every leader to commit to more communication with their subordinates, addressing the changed behavior on a regular basis. If there is not daily coaching, particularly during times of change, the behaviors won’t stick (unless they’re something simple and instantly rewarding like handing out freebies to customers).

In addition, there has to be a commitment of top leadership to make change stick. There’s a lot of initiatives that are brought in as “this is how we’re going to do business” but go away 9 months later to return in a few years under another name.

Finally, I think leaders have to create a dynamic environment that is rarely predictable so that the “mind” of the associate doesn’t get into a rut. I’m not talking about constant mergers (trauma is not an effective change mechanism) but about doing things like holding meetings on different days of the week; having different people take charge on different initiatives; creating homework assignments that make people think differently. Maybe an incentive plan will suddenly show up as a puzzle to solve . . . or product knowledge becomes flash cards. Anything to keep the environment interesting enough to make our synapses jump out of their ruts to create a new neuron path!

I like Undercover Boss, but my concern is that, like so many “change” initiatives, it is a one time deal. Do you have any recommendations for these bosses to prevent them from slipping back into their old management habits?