Six months ago we decided to ask visitors to our website to complete a survey that asks them to rate the history of change in their organisations. How successful have their organisations been in executing major changes and what have been the key drivers and barriers? The results, since we started, have proved to be very insightful and give strong guidance to change leaders trying to create real behavioural change.
So, how successful have organisations been in implementing major change?
Already we have had well over 200 people across 6 industry segments complete the survey. Top line results indicate:
- 64% of respondents believe that there has been insufficient support and commitment from people to implement and sustain key changes in their organisations. Of those:
- 27% of respondents believe that changes have been undermined by resistance
- 37% of respondents believe that people were on the verge of committing but were held back by the need for new skills and the lack of organisational support
- Interestingly, by contrast, 60% of executive respondents believe that there has been sufficient commitment and support for their business critical changes. This is very much in line with other surveys of change where executives appear far more optimistic about change results than employees or independent researchers
Initial conclusions for change leaders?
- People need more personal support and help to build real commitment.
- Leaders need to recognise and tackle resistance
- Change agents and project managers need to work more closely with executives to agree common success criteria
This is all very well but what can change leaders actually do?
The survey asks respondents to identify specific enablers and barriers from a list of 20 potential risk factors. The summary results are:
Leaders actions to make change more successful
The results strongly point to four actions that change leaders can take to improve commitment to major change:
- Organisational Imperative. Change leaders should spend more time building and communicating a strong sense of dissatisfaction with the current situation. People often need help to 'break away' from the past and give their support to a new way of working.
- Rewards and Incentives. Change leaders need to explicitly create and communicate programmes that reward people for achieving the new change goals. These rewards should be both financial and informal.
- Local Role Modelling. Organisations often over-rely on written communications. The problem comes when employees see the gap between what is being written or said and the actions of their direct managers. Front-line managers need to be shown how to model the change effectively so that it is clear what is expected and that managers are really committed to the change.
- Financial Impact and Level of Responsibility. Change leaders need to ensure that front-line managers have the skills and motivation to help their people with the inevitable resistance that major change causes. Our survey indicates that people often perceived that change would negatively impact both their personal financial situation and their level of responsibility. For a change to be successful either perceptions need to be 'reframed' or people negatively impacted need real support.
