At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly five years ago, ophthalmic equipment manager BVI Medical was already in a state of transition that demanded significant change management work from HR: It had recently undergone several acquisitions, and operations were largely segmented.

“We were operating as the core of BVI, they were operating as another couple of separate entities, and we needed something to bring it all together,” says Andrew Dawson, chief people officer and head of corporate affairs at BVI.

Centering the workforce around business objectives helped, but the HR team was also looking for a more “planful and thoughtful” approach—especially as workers were suddenly dispersed around the globe because of the health crisis.

That drove the advent of One BVI, which Dawson says “was the start of us coming together to be one company.”

It was an effort, still ongoing today, that involved significant HR leadership—and yielded lasting lessons for the people team on everything from culture work to employee listening and change management.

Centering values in change management work

To represent its new One BVI focus, the company made visible, external changes—to letterhead, signs, packaging on boxes. But, internally, HR was sharply focused on helping employees “rally around” the idea that the organization is “stronger together.”

That led the leadership team to redevelop BVI values and integrate them into how the organization operated on a daily basis. Particularly since the transformation was happening amid COVID, it gave the organization a chance to zero in on ways of working that would support company values, including inclusivity and wellness.

“We looked at everything from how many meetings do we have to how many steps does it take to get something done, all being respectful of people’s time,” Dawson says. Leadership rolled out time limits on virtual meetings and built intentional breaks for workers between meetings.

“We were saying to people, ‘We don’t need you to feel like you’re chained to your screen,’ ” he says. “And that challenged us to really think, just like the memes: Can this meeting be an email? Absolutely. We were able to reduce a significant number of interactions that just weren’t valid anymore.”

The effort to create new ways of working under One BVI was significantly influenced by employee feedback.

“The transformation happened through a lot of listening,” Dawson says.

Change skills for the future of HR

The transformations that HR functions are facing today are vast—from growth-driven culture efforts like BVI’s to digital projects like AI integration.

It will be up to HR leaders, Dawson says, to walk alongside employees as they navigate the impacts.

“Transformation is about change, helping people overcome change. Within that talking, within that sharing, you’ve got to be willing and open to listen—because people will be scared,” he says.

Employees may fear the unknown or the discomfort of changing practices that have worked for them. Listening to those fears, Dawson says, isn’t just about letting employees talk—but actually responding with action, which he says can assuage the employee anxiety related to change.

Megan Ackerson, CHRO of sales performance management solution provider Xactly Corp, recently told HR Executive, that, for HR, change management is “non-negotiable.”

“It’s the ticket to the game,” she said.

Ackerson concurred that employee listening and empowerment will significantly influence the success of HR-led transformation—equating such shifts to a family moving across the country. Parents wouldn’t spring the move overnight on their kids, but rather include them early on in the conversation, share the value proposition and enable them to make choices as they manage the change together.

As events of the last few years—from the pandemic to global unrest—have shown, the need for HR to lead change isn’t always part of an intentional transformation. HR has to flex its adaptability muscles to be prepared—including for the unexpected, says Kim Hauer, executive vice president and CHRO at SC Johnson and a recent inductee to the National Academy of HR’s Fellows.

“Organizations evolve,” she says, “and problem-solving and adaptability are essential skills that you can’t learn from textbooks—you have to experience them firsthand.”

As strategic business leaders, she says, HR must support the business through innovation and capability building, encouraging the workforce to embrace curiosity and explore new ways to solve problems.

“Being innovative involves thinking creatively, generating new ideas and finding unique solutions to problems,” she says. “It’s a skill I continually work on, as it’s essential for navigating changing business dynamics.”