In the aftermath of the UK’s recent General Election, the British Hydropower Association (BHA) and Scottish Renewables wrote to the new government demanding a “step-change in decision-making after years of delay and uncertainty.”
The organisations claimed a number of hydropower projects are stuck on the start line. They said the right regulatory environment could help rapidly unlock green energy for the country.
In the UK, the new Government has already shown a significant focus of its agenda will be on the development of new renewable energies. It means change is likely to be coming to the hydropower sector. And it won’t just be in the UK where this change is seen.
Hydropower is set to become an even bigger part of the renewable energy mix for future global economies. It provides a reliable baseline of energy compared to wind and solar, while not having the potential safety drawbacks of nuclear energy. In the coming global energy transition, hydropower will be impossible to ignore.
Risks associated with change
Change is a double-edged sword: while regulatory changes and new technologies could unlock periods of intense growth for the hydropower sector, transformation can only be achieved with substantial effort from individual companies to pick up the mantle of that opportunity. But change isn’t easy. In fact, the vast majority of businesses underestimate how hard it is. According to McKinsey, 70% of change management initiatives fail. The question is: why?
Here at Copper Consultancy, we recently published our own research exploring why the number of companies that fail is so high. We spoke to experts in energy and infrastructure, as well as global change experts, to understand how to make change a success, with our findings shared in a new report: Turning Sceptics into Believers.
We found the largest hurdle energy and infrastructure business fail to overcome is the quality and strategy behind their communication. More often than not, organisations ignore a vital element in their communication – the reasons why the change taking place.
Recommendations
For hydropower businesses to play their part in the future of the global energy transition, they need to communicate effectively. Based on our findings, we have developed a number of recommendations to ensure organisations are best placed to communicate change:
- Ensuring organic change
Transformation initiatives should be perceived by involved stakeholders as an organic part of a company’s journey. This can be ensured during the planning stage by involving a wide range of stakeholders at an early stage across all levels of the business.
When stakeholders are consulted regarding the direction of change, they feel engaged and listened to. Consulting these stakeholders early ensures feedback can be incorporated from the outset. - Building firm advocacy
Creating internal voices that can drive change forward and advocate for its purpose is a vital part of any company’s transformation. This, of course, includes trusted leaders. Members of senior management, who put their full backing behind a transformation initiative are best placed to communicate the “whys” of the change taking place.
But, just as important and frequently overlooked is establishing a range of internal advocates. They will help to demonstrate that change isn’t just imposed from the top down. They will organically spread positive sentiment throughout the organisation, and can appear in internal communications, townhalls and social media posts. - Sustaining your message
Change leaders often make the mistake of assuming that, once their transformation programmes has launched, they will naturally take flight and become part of company culture. The reality is that successful transformation programmes must be reinforced through regular, ongoing and creative communication campaigns. This is especially true in the hydropower sector, where projects may take many years to complete. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and companies cannot change overnight.
Change that lasts
The goal of every transformation initiative is not simply to change an organisation. It is to do so in a way where the organisation is forever redefined by its change. Frequently, this means that transformation initiatives must evolve as feedback is received and new circumstances emerge.
Hydropower companies will need to embrace this willingness to evolve to remain competitive and match the speed with which the sector is evolving. Changes in regulation are bringing about a paradigm shift in the way these companies operate. As a result, organic and inspired transformations are vital. A flood of change is coming, and the sector must learn to adapt.
