Meeting Stakeholders Where They Are: A Change Management Lesson for E&C Professionals from a Politician

Bobby Pulido is running for a congressional seat in South Texas but realized he wasn't breaking through to voters. Busy families weren't watching political debates or scrolling campaign websites. They were at quinceañeras, celebrating their daughters' fifteenth birthdays, dancing and eating. As a well-known musician, he had an idea. He made an offer to perform at these celebrations and within the first 24 hours, he received more than 1,000 requests.

Ethics and compliance professionals face the same fundamental challenge. The employees we most need to reach are not seeking out compliance messaging. They are busy, distracted, and operating in a world where our messages compete with everything else demanding their attention. To get across, we need to meet employees where they are rather than where we wish they would be.

This is exactly what I did to get people’s attention in my last role. I sought invitations to join staff meetings and business unit town halls instead of demanding separate meetings. I made my appearances short and punchy, usually with a little humor thrown in. I aimed to build relationships and trust with leaders and employees by showing up in places where they were already going, physically and virtually.

Which is what Pulido did intuitively and is something change management practitioners have understood for years. To change behavior, you have to understand your stakeholders, find ways to build trust and minimize resistance. Showing up at quinceañeras showed that he understood what voters really cared about and made it easy for them to hear his messages. Showing up in staff meetings and town halls showed that I was willing to make it convenient for employees to hear compliance messaging, thus building trust and removing a barrier of resistance.

We don’t need to be change management experts to be effective. But for E&C programs that struggle to connect with middle management and employees, meeting them where they are may just be the right move.