Promoters, Passives, and Protestors

Whenever you have a change to implement in your company, different people are going to have different opinions of that change. The standard Net Promoter Score categorizes people as Promoters, Passive, and Detractors. In the workplace, I like to call then Promoters, Passives, and Protestors. The detractors may not be holding signs and picketing, but they certainly can be very active behind the scenes in complaining and working to derail the success of a change.

As a leader responsible for the success of that change, where should you focus your energy? Should you try to pacify the Protestors so they’ll at least just be passive? Should you try to energize the Passives so they’ll become active Promoters?

While you certainly don’t want to ignore your Protestors or your Passives, there’s a lot of evidence that emphasizes the value of concentrating on your existing Promoters. When you can identify them early, engage them, and give them the resources they need, you can recruit them as champions to recruit the Passives to become Promoters themselves. If you don’t multiply your promotion efforts by building those champions, your Protestors are likely to recruit more of your Passives to oppose the change.

If you’ve identified a change you need to implement in your workplace and you’d like a thinking partner to help it succeed, let’s talk. Visit stevedwire.com/talk to start the conversation.