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Independent survey show using change management on projects pays off

London, UK, 26th July 2010. Changefirst, a global leader in helping organisations implement change more effectively, has revealed the results of its recent survey assessing the return on investment of using change management in major projects. The most striking finding is that on large projects, companies can realise a return of up to 650% by using change management effectively.

The project started as a discussion on LinkedIn and over time developed into a short survey. There have been very few surveys on the effects of change management over the years and Changefirst wanted to try and isolate the impact change management was actually having on projects and in particular on their financial outcomes. Because studies of ROI are so difficult and often very long-term the survey asked respondents to look at projects 6 to 9 months after launch to see what impact change management was having. For this reason it’s possible that these results might be under-stated as many projects have not completed their lifecycle.

"Delivering successful change projects is a key strategic issue for organisations and it has a significant impact on the bottom line,” said David Miller, Managing Director at Changefirst. “Our research shows that on large projects over 40% of change managers believe that at least a third of the financial gains could be attributable to change management activities alone. This means that, after 9 months, for every £1 spent on change management these organisations were getting £6.50 as a return”.

Over 77% of respondents reported the proportion of implementation budgets spent on change management activities was less than 10%. “This is a little under the norm,” continued David Miller. “The proportion of spend on change management is usually about 15% for the larger £1 million plus implementations. It may reflect the economy and type of projects. But it may also indicate that organizations don’t have to spend huge amounts on change management to get a very attractive return.”

In terms of overall project performance the respondents were asked about the financial results six to nine months after implementing the project, and reported that where more than £1 million was spent, they had realised about £2.5 million in savings by month nine.

In terms of the non-financial objectives, the survey reveals that 67% of managers thought that their initiatives improved customer service and a massive 96% saw a positive impact on employee behaviour.

It also shows that the biggest objective for change projects (42%) was to increase productivity, followed by 17% looking to improve quality and 13% saying that efficiency savings were their key goal.

Those taking part in the survey included project managers, HR and learning specialists, six sigma black belts and consultants.

“Our sample is sufficiently large to offer real indications as to the success of using change management during these challenging economic times, and their views illustrate the commitment many people have made to making change work for them in their own organisations,” said David Miller.

Download the ROI for Change Management Whitepaper to find out more. 

Background

The survey was conducted online during May and June 2010 amongst 2,500 change managers - representing over 120 organisations of various sizes - that are currently implementing major initiatives.

 
Press Information:

Julie Kirby, Grappa, 020 7602 9222, julie@grappa.co.uk

Brian Casey, Changefirst, 01444 450777, brian.casey@changefirst.com
 

About Changefirst

Founded in 1995, Changefirst is a provider of change management solutions. By using our own recognised methodology, People Centred Implementation (PCI), we help people and organisations thrive through change by focussing on the effective engagement of people to successfully deliver change.

Our change management experts have trained over 10,000 people in over 35 countries and our customers include The Linde Group, Novartis, Nokia and Virgin Media

Changefirst is a registered education provider of PMI (the Project Management Institute)

Our solutions are also designed to integrate with industry standard solutions including Six Sigma and Prince 2

www.changefirst.com 

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