SoCalGas

Dr. Desiree Haynes is an organizational development and diversity, equity and inclusion manager at SoCalGas. Her expertise centers on organizational effectiveness, change management and people-centered leadership, helping organizations navigate transformation while fostering employee trust, well-being and sustained performance.

Aligning Business Change with Employee Needs

My experience in organizational development and effectiveness has taught me to look at change from both a systems and human perspective. Organizations may need to change structures, processes, technology or ways of working to remain productive and high performing, but ultimately, employees are the ones who have to experience and navigate those changes. That has really shaped my approach to leading through change.

I recognize that change and transition are not the same: change is what happens around employees, while transition is the personal process of adapting to what is changing. As a leader, I have to pay attention to both what needs to change from a business perspective and what employees need in order to move through that transition successfully. Supporting employees through transition means providing clarity, creating space for them to ask questions and process what is happening and helping them understand what the change means for them.

One thing that often occurs is that leaders can move quickly through a business decision and underestimate the human transition aspect of the change. That transition takes more than communication. It requires leaders to slow down enough to consider how people are experiencing the change and what they need to move forward. That balance between achieving what the organization needs and supporting employees through the transition is really at the center of how I approach change.

I am experiencing this firsthand as I bring our Organizational Development and DEI teams together under one umbrella. I already led the OD team and knew that work well, but I recently took on oversight of the DEI team, whose work I understood at a high level but not yet in depth. On paper, the change appears simple: a new structure and a combined scope of work. But for the people on both teams, the transition is much more personal. Team members naturally want to know what will stay the same and what will be different: whether the work and expertise they are known for will continue, what may shift in their roles and how their contributions will fit within the combined team. Rather than jumping straight to a new way of operating, I am bringing the teams together progressively, taking time to learn the DEI work more deeply, build on the strong relationships we already share while shaping what working together as one team will look like and recognize what each brings to the table. That time is not a delay. It is how we are building the trust we need to shape our future together.

Reducing Uncertainty through Transparent Leadership

I believe employees often struggle more with uncertainty than with change itself because change gives people something concrete to respond to, while uncertainty leaves them wondering what is happening and what it may mean for them. When information is limited, questions naturally arise: What does this mean for me? What does it mean for my team? What will be expected of me? What happens next?

“Leadership during disruption is not about removing every challenge, but creating enough clarity, connection and confidence for employees to continue moving forward collectively.”

That is why the leader’s role is so important. Leaders may not be able to eliminate uncertainty, particularly during a complex or unpopular transformation, but they can help employees navigate it. In my experience, employees do not need every answer immediately, but they do need enough clarity and context to understand what is known, what is still evolving, what will remain the same, what will be different and how they may be impacted.

Leaders can reduce unnecessary uncertainty by communicating consistently, being transparent about what they do and do not know, remaining visible and accessible and creating space for employees to ask questions and voice concerns. While leaders may not be able to provide certainty, they can provide steadiness by continuing to listen, communicate and follow through as the situation evolves.

Strengthening Trust through Honest Communication

Clarity does not mean having all the answers. I think leaders sometimes equate the two, but authenticity and transparency often go much further than trying to present an answer for every unknown. A leader can say, ‘Here is what we know today, what we are still working through and when you can expect to hear from us again.’

Employees do not expect leaders to predict the future, but they do expect honesty, consistency, visibility and follow-through. Leaders build trust by communicating candidly, listening to concerns and resisting the pressure to fill every gap with an answer. Sometimes, the most important thing a leader can provide during uncertainty is confidence in the process and reassurance that employees remain a priority.

Integrating Employee Well-Being into Business Transformation

I would challenge the idea that business transformation and employee well-being are competing priorities. Transformation may be necessary for the health and future of the business, but how that transformation is designed and implemented becomes part of the employee experience.

Workload, competing priorities, communication, decision-making, leadership behaviors and opportunities for employee input all shape how people experience change. Organizations should consider those factors throughout the transformation, not after the major decisions have already been made.

For me, part of the balance is creating space to ask not only, ‘What does the business need us to accomplish?’ but also, ‘What might employees experience as we accomplish it?’ That does not mean avoiding difficult decisions or slowing necessary change. It means being thoughtful about how decisions are communicated, how competing demands are managed, how employees are heard and whether leaders follow through on their commitments.

Taking care of the business and considering the people doing the work should go hand in hand, given that sustainable transformation requires both.

Leading with Clarity and Connection during Disruption

During periods of disruption, leaders are still responsible for driving performance, but they cannot minimize the people element of leadership in the process. The focus should be on communicating clearly, listening with intent, setting realistic priorities, staying connected and following through.

Leaders can create regular opportunities for employees to ask questions, share concerns and offer input where it can genuinely influence decisions. They can also help their employees understand what is changing and what will remain stable, revisit priorities when workloads or competing demands become unrealistic and recognize progress even while the larger transition is underway.

Most importantly, leaders should remain visible and accessible and listen to understand, not simply to respond. They do not have to solve every challenge for their teams, but should be receptive to what their employees are experiencing and respond thoughtfully.

Leadership during disruption is not about removing every challenge, but creating enough clarity, connection and confidence for employees to continue moving forward collectively.