Gayle Gorrill, FCPA, FCA, has spent her career as a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) honing her skills as a strategic leader in dynamic organizations. And having spent the last decade managing the finances at a multi-million-dollar educational institution, she knows something about overseeing change.
Whereas traditional companies might undergo change in order to increase revenue or expand to larger offices, at an educational institution like the University of Victoria (UVic), the goals are more complex.
“Assessing the opportunities is never as straightforward as the bottom line,” says Gorrill, VP of Finance and Operations at UVic. “Unlike a for-profit entity, we need to look at how each opportunity contributes to further enhancing the University and all that we support.”
This might mean creating more unique ways for students to learn or assessing how the University can support a need in the community.
No matter whether the University is launching a new initiative or developing an educational program, Gorrill says that change is best supported when you have a highly skilled team behind you.
“Being able to move forward and take advantage of opportunities is all about paying attention to how change impacts the people involved. At UVic, our team focuses on the people. How do we ensure that we communicate appropriately? How do we make it easy?”
With this philosophy top of mind, Gorrill has distilled key advice for companies and non-profits undergoing change.
Find partnerships to support change
Once an idea is identified as a viable opportunity, you need to determine who are the right partners to work with you. Only then can the team take actionable steps to make the business case come to action.
For traditional companies, that might mean reaching out to investors. For UVic, those partnerships include donors, stakeholders, the government, and in some cases, municipalities.
“We have developed better ways of identifying opportunities but also, even more importantly, enhanced our ability to move forward on the partnership opportunities—enhancing clarity on expectations, accountabilities and how [we] approach change management and risk assessment significantly contributes to our success.”
Hire for the right skills
In any institution, you have to ensure your team is equipped with the right skills to assist you during periods of transition.
UVic has a long history of hiring Chartered Professional Accountants (CPAs), whose in-depth training equips them with the tools to adapt and support team members during a transition.
CPAs can lean in on many aspects of a business, such as locating and allocating funding, defining a budget, assessing and mitigating risk and training co-workers to adapt to change. As well, CPAs understand the importance of being accountable to funders (government, donors, students, etc.) on how resources are being expended and that resources are being used as effectively as possible.
“We hire CPAs based on their leadership styles and their ability to lead and manage a team,” says Gorrill.
Encourage leadership
Once an initiative has the go-ahead, Gorrill advises organizations to focus on promoting buy-in and enhancing leadership skills within their change management team.
First, she says, employees are most effective when you can gain commitment rather than compliance. Second, employees need to understand why something is being done and how they contribute to that goal.
And third, managers must be supportive and inspiring leaders who can provide training and support for their team.
It’s basic human nature, according to Gorrill: “People want to do a great job. If you believe they will do a great job, they tend to.”
At the end of the day, Gorrill’s advice is simple: if you believe you and your team know what you want to achieve and focus on the people, you will successfully manage change in the workplace.
After all — where there’s a will, there’s a way.
