They also need to know that this is not going to go on forever. The program should be designated for a certain limited period of time, which will be sufficient to conduct the research and training and to evaluate results. It’s important for employees subjected to change to know that there will be an end point to the transformation.

In the meantime, they should be helped to feel that the sooner they engage in the new ways of doing things, the sooner they will enjoy the satisfaction and rewards of the new venture.

This project is designed to build revenues and cut costs at companies like Szemsted. It also is designed to take advantage of the time of uncertainty at the company because most employees will understand the need for setting new standards and bringing unity to the combined operations. Acceptance of the program by employees, and their willing participation in it, is sure to be fortified by their need to learn new rules in order to succeed.

A second issue faced by the executives of Szemsted, who were trying to smoothly unify the two sales forces, was to assure that the reps from both companies maintained positive attitudes and remained engaged in their work. Maintaining normal employee engagement, even in a low-pressure company that is free of stressful change, is a major management challenge.

In a high-stress company the challenge could be more serious, and we’ll get to that in a minute. In a typical organization, however, half of the workers are doing just enough to get by. Another 25 percent are totally turned off. This means that only one-quarter of them are usefully engaged in building the organization and helping to meet its goals.

Recent studies that have profiled U.S. companies report that a number of employees are not enthused by their jobs, not willing to go the extra mile, and not inspired to deliver great customer service or to create great products.

A recent Gallup Management Journal report depicts three types of employees which are the engaged, the non-engaged, and the actively disengaged. In their words, engaged employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their companies. They drive innovation and move the organization forward.