‘Nudging’ creates corporate change

City of Edmonton about to launch its pilot project

A concept called “nudging” is being used to help transform the culture within many organizations and government departments. It’s meant to change the context for decision-making by all levels of the workforce.

“The nudge concept is all about understanding how people think, how they make choices. If we understand that better, we can influence their behaviour,” says Sunil Johal, policy director for the Mowat Centre at the University of Toronto.

The City of Edmonton is launching its own pilot project to see if nudging can be scaled up effectively across the broader government sector.

The concept, which is only now gaining traction, can even affect things such as pension plans — what kind and whether people opt out, notes Johal.

The Mowat Centre is leading the way on researching nudging and its effectiveness. There are plenty of different areas to examine, given the widespread potential.

So-called “intrapreneurs” can effect change in public sector organizations, said Colleen McCormick, director for strategic issues with Tourism BC.

“Large organizations, whether in the public or private sector, struggle to keep up with changes in technology, demographics and demand,” she said.

Lean programs are becoming “more prevalent in the public sector, and are emerging as the best practice to continuous improvement,” according to Jeff Mackey, managing director for business consulting in Western Canada for Fujitsu Consulting (Canada) Inc.

Mackey is using case studies and data gathered from existing lean programs to assess efficacy of programs that focus on culture, front line collaboration and engagement of workers. He also provides recent case studies of the successful implementation of lean programs and what sets those examples. Mackey said he takes an approach of celebration of failures as a key part of any successful change process.

Launched in 2012, the Alberta Public Service’s large-scale organizational change program (called Reaching Our Full Potential, or ROFP) is being evaluated for its effectiveness, says Heather Caltagirone, assistant deputy minister for leadership and talent development with the Alberta government.

Johal believes the nudging concept will continue to gain more attention from human resource professionals and business leaders as they see more examples of how it works in action.