Why Is Change So Hard?

My company is trying to change an industry, an industry that hasn’t really changed much in the 17 years I’ve been in it.  Apparently change is hard for human beings:

How many people were still driving their supercharged V8 super SUV when gas was over $5 a gallon?

How many people continue to rebuild a house on the same plot of land even after multiple floods wipe them out?

How many people are diagnosed as obese and are sitting in a McDonald’s drive thru with a $20 bill?

How many people continue to eat fatty foods after they’ve had a heart attack?  Apparently a lot as the American Heart Association has an article out today called, “understanding how people change“.  In it they identify the several different stages people go through before a new behavior becomes a habit:

• Precontemplation (Not interested): Not even thinking about changing the old habit.
• Contemplation (Maybe): Thinking about changing but not doing anything about it.
• Preparations (Definitely a possibility): Doing something about changing, but not regularly.
• Action (Doing it): Changing the old habit regularly, but for less than six months.
• Maintenance (Been there, still doing it): Habit has been changed regularly for six months or longer.

So if you are (or you manage) a “post and pray” Recruiter (defined as someone who relys on posting jobs and sifting through the myriad of applications) it is “gut check” time.

Your industry is moving away from inviting the world to apply and then sifting through the rubble toward a more strategic way of locating talent.  Using new tools, new technologies and new techniques should be a way of life for you (Action) if you are hoping to survive this economy or come back when it does.  I believe Recruiting leadership will demand a more flexible, creative and “change-friendly” staff when the market comes back.  So where are you on the scale above in your willingness to embrace change?

In change management there is a concept of “locus of control” – the extent to which individuals believe they can control events that affect them.  IF you believe in change, move from precontemplation to action quickly, then the locus of control is always within YOU. 

If you don’t accept and embrace change and act as a change agent, then change will always happen to you.