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CIPD Learning Hub modules on Ethical Practice. 

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CIPD Learning Hub modules on Ethical Practice. 

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Influence Model, McKinsey's change management model, is one in a long list of potential frameworks one can draw upon during a case interview. Of course, it's also relevant if you are a young professional experiencing large-scale change at your employer. Or, if you are a seasoned professional tasked with designing or leading a corporate transformation. The influence model is a change management framework you can use to navigate the shifts in people, processes, and focus when an organization must begin to operate much differently than it has in the past.

Let's discuss the model in a bit more detail from an academic or theoretical perspective. Then we'll apply the model to an actual business situation. Finally, we will discuss why the model is useful and should be well understood.

Influence Model Overview

It might be helpful to start by defining "organizational change". There is an infinite range of examples where an organization experiencing substantial change requires leaders and employees to behave in new ways.

Imagine what happens when a company has decided to sell one or more business units and put all of its focus on a smaller number of remaining business units. Or, imagine a company has decided to acquire its major competitor. Finally, consider a brand that used to invest its entire marketing budget in traditional news, radio, and TV advertisements, manufacture its products in the U.S., and sell through brick and mortar retail outlets. But now, that brand has decided to build a digital marketing strategy and begin manufacturing overseas. In all these scenarios, the organization is going through change and must find ways to manage it as effectively as possible.

The building blocks of this change management model from McKinsey include:

1. Fostering understanding and conviction

2. Reinforcing changes through formal mechanisms

3. Developing talent and skills

4. Role modeling

The idea is that these four types of actions, which reinforce one another, will change employee mindsets and positively influence behavior when consistently taken together. These are the building blocks of the Influence Model. That is one reason it is also called an Influence Model for Change.

Building Blocks Of The Influence Model

Fostering Understanding and Conviction

McKinsey's research shows that people have a very difficult time performing any given task or behaving in a particular way. This is also true when the task is simple and easy, since this is when they do not understand "why" they are supposed to be acting differently. Furthermore, business leaders tend to dramatically overestimate their communication. The extent to which "the why" behind a new way of doing things is clear to the rest of the organization. What is obvious to them is not obvious to others.

The key then is to consistently communicate the rationale behind the new way of doing things. Develop a clear narrative for the change effort. Constantly ask questions and seek feedback to understand the extent to which people seem to be "buying into" the process.

Reinforcing Changes Through Formal Mechanism

Leaders often don't realize that, although they are undertaking a serious change effort, their incentive systems are still rewarding the "old way" of doing things. For example, imagine a company making a dramatic shift towards selling "services" instead of products. Yet, they still give its sales personnel revenue targets that don't differentiate between products and services. If you want people to change their behavior, don't reward A but hope for B.

If an organization wants its people to behave in a different way, it must recognize that its employees may need to build dramatically new skills. McKinsey quotes research that shows humans of all ages have a surprising capacity to learn new things and build new skills. But if a business is trying to penetrate an entirely new market, it must recognize the importance of first building the confidence and skills of its commercial team. It must take the time to train, teach, and develop its commercial talent.

Have you ever noticed that you might start using a new expression after your best friend adopts it? Or that you start signing emails a certain way to mimic your new boss? Unconsciously, people often copy others without realizing it. But they may also consciously align their actions with those of others to learn, improve, or just fit in. The insight here is that for change to be successful, it's critical for leaders to be acting and communicating in ways that are aligned with the desired change. People will mimic them, whether they realize it or not.

Influence Model Example

Imagine you are sitting in a case interview and the interviewer asks you a very open-ended question. She says: "What can Amazon do to maximize the value of Whole Foods after the acquisition?" Now you could approach this open-ended question by getting into questions of price point, product mix, cost reduction, new delivery model options, etc. But you could also apply the McKinsey influence model.

You would want to note that this is really a change management question, and that's how you are going to address it. If the organizational change isn't managed effectively, execution will suffer, and financial performance will surely not meet expectations.

First, you could highlight the importance of ensuring everyone at Whole Foods and Amazon understand the "why" that was used to justify the acquisition. This will help them get comfortable with the new behaviors that will be required. Next, you could make sure that any key synergies that the acquisition was based on - i.e. people who use Amazon being encouraged to shop at Whole Foods - was explicitly incentivized. Someone at Amazon needs to have marketing Whole Foods baked specifically into their goals and objectives for the year.

People will need to be trained appropriately as well. Whole Foods employees will be asked many questions about the acquisition, including how to use the Amazon or Whole Foods apps to checkout, etc. Training will be key. Finally, how successful will the endeavor be if key Amazon or Whole Foods leaders are not "onboard" with the merger? It is remarkable how role models can influence lives and behaviors. You need to ensure individuals in key spots are functioning as role models.

Explain Influence Model to Your Team

The change management framework from McKinsey is useful to students and professionals alike. Maybe you are a student considering a career in management consulting? It's an excellent back-pocket framework that allows you to analyze a situation without getting into any detailed math or analytics. If you are a professional experiencing or leading change, it's one of the more intuitive change management models to help you better navigate the situation around you.

Final Thoughts on McKinsey's Influence Model for Change

A quick search will reveal a long list of change management models, from Nudge Theory to 7S to ADKAR. McKinsey's four-step influence model stands out for finding the right mix of simplicity and comprehensiveness. It is also particularly useful as a change management model in the context of driving organizational change vs. only changes in personal behavior.

Additional Reading:

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Influence Model - McKinsey's Change Management Model

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Influence Model, McKinsey's change management model, is one in a long list of potential frameworks one can draw upon during a case interview. Of course, it's also relevant if you are a young professional experiencing large-scale change at your employer. Or, if you are a seasoned professional tasked with designing or leading a corporate transformation.

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Workplace ethics has been an increasing focus for businesses, policy makers and regulatory bodies in recent years. In the wake of corporate scandal, talk often turns to how organisations can change their culture and manage unethical behaviour. But, to make a much-needed change, we need to understand why unethical behaviour occurs in the first place. With this knowledge, business leaders and people professionals can take meaningful action to tackle it.

This report Rotten apples, bad barrels and sticky situations: a review of unethical workplace behaviour, provides evidence-based, practical lessons that people professionals and leaders can use to minimise the likelihood of unethical behaviour in their workplace.

The research is based on a Rapid Evidence Assessment (conducted by the CIPD, CEBMa and the Australian National University) to identify the factors that influence ethical behaviour at work. We asked three key questions:

To what extent is unethical behaviour the result of individual choices?

Research reveals that a range of individual characteristics can affect how people behave, in particular aspects of their personality but also mood. For example, frustrated employees may be more likely to act unethically, highlighting the need for positive management practices.

Is unethical behaviour the result of organisation or industry-wide problems, in particular organisational culture or ingrained norms of behaviour?

Our findings suggest that organisational culture and leadership can influence unethical behaviour, whereas moral leadership and ethical climate and social norms enhance ethical behaviour.

How far is unethical behaviour due to the difficult or compromising nature of decisions that people face at work?

We find that certain situations, or aspects of jobs, can impact on ethical behaviour. For instance, time pressure or isolated decision making can increase the likelihood of unethical behaviour, whereas accountability and checks and balances can reduce it.

It's clear that the causes of unethical behaviour are complex. But, there are key ways in which behaviour can be shifted, with good management practices, leadership and accountability all playing a part.

Download the research report below to understand the individual, situational and organisational factors that lead to unethical behaviour and top lessons for practice.

Access the technical report to learn more about the scientific evidence and the methodology of this review.

Episode 149: We explore how organisations can support ethical behaviour at work through their people management practices, job design and building ethics into the way they do business.

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Factsheets

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Rotten apples, bad barrels and sticky situations: a review of unethical workplace behaviour | Reports | CIPD

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Workplace ethics has been an increasing focus for businesses, policy makers and regulatory bodies in recent years. In the wake of corporate scandal, talk often turns to how organisations can change their culture and manage unethical behaviour. But, to make a much-needed change, we need to understand why unethical behaviour occurs in the first place.

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Reflections after decision making, look at what was the decision, what approach I took, what worked well, what could have gone better, what was the outcome. 

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Reflections after decision making, look at what was the decision, what approach I took, what worked well, what could have gone better, what was the outcome. 

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Situational decision-making | CIPD Profession Map

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Situational decision-making is about making effective and pragmatic decisions or choices based on the specific situation or context.

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Read the CIPD Report 2020: Creating a learning culture: Accessing the Evidence Creating learning cultures: assessing the evidence (cipd.co.uk)

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Read the CIPD Report 2020: Creating a learning culture: Accessing the Evidence Creating learning cultures: assessing the evidence (cipd.co.uk)

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CIPD Research Report: Making Maximum Impact as a HR professional in an SME, 2015making-maximum-impact-HR-professional-SME_tcm18-8791.pdf (cipd.co.uk)

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CIPD Research Report: Making Maximum Impact as a HR professional in an SME, 2015making-maximum-impact-HR-professional-SME_tcm18-8791.pdf (cipd.co.uk)

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Any method of learning should support individuals, teams or the organisation as a whole to build capability that meets business need. As working environments become more complex and greater agility is needed to ensure capability among employees, it's more important than ever to consider the breadth of different learning methods available.

This factsheet defines 'learning', 'training' and 'development' and examines the main factors to consider when choosing between learning methods. It gives an overview of the various types, from workplace-based learning, like on-the-job training and in-house development programmes, to externally-based learning, such as formal qualifications. It also looks at distance and digital learning and explores some of the emerging learning methods, including social learning, gamification and MOOCs.

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This factsheet was last updated by David Hayden.

David Hayden: CIPD Trainer/Consultant

David is an L&D Consultant in the CIPD's L&D Content Team. He leads on the design and delivery of a number of L&D focused products as well as keeping his practice up to date by facilitating events for a range of clients. David began his L&D career after taking responsibility for three Youth Trainees back in 1988 as an Operations Manager, and has since gone on to work in, and headed up, a number of corporate L&D teams and HR functions in distribution, retail, financial and public sector organisations. He completed his Masters degree specialising in CPD and was Chair of our South Yorkshire Branch for two years from 2012 before joining as an employee in 2014. David also has a background in 'lean' and has worked as a Lean Engineer in a number of manufacturing and food organisations. Passionate about learning and exploiting all aspects of CPD, David's style is participative and inclusive.

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Any method of learning should support individuals, teams or the organisation as a whole to build capability that meets business need. As working environments become more complex and greater agility is needed to ensure capability among employees, it's more important than ever to consider the breadth of different learning methods available.

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Creating Ethical Workplaces | Podcast | CIPD

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Creating Ethical Workplaces | Podcast | CIPD

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Always-on training: How to create learning in the flow of work

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For most of us, work happens everywhere. In the office, at home and even on the move. This always-on...

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LO4 Be able to influence others during decision-making while showing courage and conviction.

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LO4 Be able to influence others during decision-making while showing courage and conviction.

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Question 13

To be able to demonstrate appropriate influencing style to communicate and engage different audiences.

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LO4 Be able to influence others during decision-making while showing courage and conviction.

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LO4 Be able to influence others during decision-making while showing courage and conviction.

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Question 12

To be able to assess own approaches to decision-making on complex issues, taking ownership to remedy mistakes.

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LO3 Be able to apply learning to enhance personal effectiveness.

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LO3 Be able to apply learning to enhance personal effectiveness.

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Question 11

To be able to assess the impact that sharing of learning has on organisational success.

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LO2 Be able to achieve and maintain challenging business outcomes for yourself and organisations.

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LO2 Be able to achieve and maintain challenging business outcomes for yourself and organisations.

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Question 7

To be able to demonstrate impactful behaviour that is aligned with wider organisational vision, values, strategies and plans.

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LO2 Be able to achieve and maintain challenging business outcomes for yourself and organisations. Question 5 To be able to reflect on levels of self-awareness, self-management and continuous self-improvement, leading to improved organisational success and career progression.

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LO2 Be able to achieve and maintain challenging business outcomes for yourself and organisations. Question 5 To be able to reflect on levels of self-awareness, self-management and continuous self-improvement, leading to improved organisational success and career progression.

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LO1 Be able to model principles and values that promote inclusivity aimed at maximising the contribution that people make to organisations. Question 3 To be able to self-evaluate personal and professional integrity in relation to ethical practice, professional courage and influence, and valuing people.

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LO1 Be able to model principles and values that promote inclusivity aimed at maximising the contribution that people make to organisations. Question 3 To be able to self-evaluate personal and professional integrity in relation to ethical practice, professional courage and influence, and valuing people.