Hidden influencers lurk within all organisations and if your business is serious about wanting to successfully improve and change, then you’ll need to identify them. McKinsey’s recent article states that employee resistance is one of the most frequent reasons given for failed organisational change programs. Rather than attempting to convince employees through presentations, ‘town hall’ style meetings or emailed marketing, companies do better by developing strong change leaders that employees already know and respect. In this way their energy, ideas and goodwill significantly contribute to a successful outcome for the business.

The article suggests using snowball sampling to firstly identify these hidden influencers. The group chosen should be broadly across all functions, geographies and roles to ensure different views. Trust is built by transparency of information as to what the project and goals are, by retaining the voluntary aspect for inclusion into the group, and by quickly sharing ideas generated with the wider workforce to engender a sense of shared ownership.

Companies who have adopted this approach have reported multiple success stories across a range of initiatives. Of crucial importance is that levels of employee satisfaction have risen due largely to greater levels of empowerment and collaboration.

This approach sounds such a positive way of harnessing the knowledge and creativity within organisations by working with informal structures that already exist. Why push the cart uphill if you don’t need to?