The FAQs of Change Leadership

Introduction

Maybe it goes without saying, but companies cannot be stagnant. Individuals, teams, departments, and companies must embrace change to remain competitive. Change is necessary to succeed and grow.

Yet, there are countless case studies about organizations that resisted change, believing the status quo and their current market share would last forever. One of the most famous ones is Blockbuster. In the early 2000’s they were at the forefront of the movie rental industry. At that time, the founder of Netflix met with Blockbuster to propose a partnership where Blockbuster would advertise their brand in stores while Netflix would run Blockbuster's online service. As the story goes, this idea was shot down by Blockbuster executives, and in less than ten years, Blockbuster was out of business, in no small part due to Netflix.

Teams, departments, and the entire organization must continually challenge their current situation to meet evolving customer demands, seize new opportunities, and remain competitive. However, change initiatives of any magnitude never come without their risks. With upwards of 70% of change initiatives failing, those leading change in the workplace need to be equipped with the knowledge and management skills to ensure their initiatives succeed.

We’ve created this guide to clear up some of the misconceptions around change leadership, provide a helpful resource to answer some of the most common questions regarding organizational change, and hopefully, help the next change initiative you’re leading be a success.

Why Is Change Good in the Workplace?

The status quo can be a killer for companies that want to remain competitive. Organizations unwilling to challenge their present state are the ones that get left behind. As much as leaders understand this truth, it takes courage to step up, take a risk, and pursue change.

In the VUCA business environment that companies of all sizes find themselves in today, due to the fallout from a global pandemic, supply chain challenges, economic uncertainty, and political volatility, changing to overcome challenges and seize opportunities has never been more critical. 

When an organization has a culture that embraces change, where everyone, from individual contributors to senior executives, actively seeks out opportunities for change, the impact is undeniable. From fresh approaches to old problems to uncovering new opportunities and growth and performance, an agile workforce is something every company should aspire to. In addition, to the benefits mentioned above, a company where employees embrace change can reap the following advantages.

Attracts and Retains Talent

Employees want to be empowered in their roles. They want to work for a company where they feel a sense of ownership, their ideas are valued, and their efforts impact the company and its purpose. With the great resignation and a war for talent, organizations that are reluctant to move quickly, innovate, encourage intrapreneurship, and embrace diverse and novel ideas, will lose out on talent and be left behind.

Spurs Innovation

The teams and companies that embrace change are also often innovation leaders. Employees at all levels have a deep, embedded belief that remaining competitive requires innovation and doing things differently. This creates a culture where employees embrace change and are deeply invested in innovation. From Apple to Alphabet to Amazon, the organizations that push the envelope on innovation, welcome creativity, encourage out-of-the-box ideas, and take risks, are the ones that become industry disruptors.

Encourages Continuous Improvements

It isn’t always the large and highly talked about transformations that make the greatest impact. Sometimes the small, incremental daily changes can add up and make the most noticeable difference. Having a culture where continuous improvements and change permeates all levels is a real competitive advantage. In these organizations, employees actively seek out and suggest ways to reduce redundancies to improve the customer experience and product quality.

Opens Up New Business Opportunities and Strategic Partnerships

There are numerous case studies where the trajectory of organizations may have been different if there was an openness to change and exploring business opportunities and strategic partnerships. Bob Saada and Benjamin Gomes-Casseres explain why strategic partnerships are critical for business success in their article for strategy+business. They said, “Few companies can afford to follow their previous deal blueprints if they want to respond to the disruptions and risks in today’s markets. More importantly, the traditional lines between industries are blurring, with consumers increasingly expecting goods and services to be interconnected, and businesses seeking to make their supply chains more efficient and effective.”

Benefits of Embracing Change in the Workplace

If you’re not sold on why change is good in the workplace or need statistics to build your case for why your team, department, or organization needs to embrace change, here are a few to take note of.

• You’ll remain competitive: 80% of executives believe their current business models are at risk of disruption in the very near future. Moreover, 84% of executives understand that innovation is central to their growth strategy. - McKinsey

• You’ll grow faster when it’s part of your culture: 71% of respondents who reported that their organization’s revenues were growing quicker than their competitors’ revenues said their company culture was highly aligned with their innovation strategy. - strategy+business

• You won’t be left behind: On average, a company today has initiated five company-wide changes in the past three years, while nearly 75% expect to multiply the types of major change initiatives they undertake in the next three years. - Gartner

• You’ll see an ROI for your efforts: The ROI of excellent and sophisticated change management programs is 135%. - Google

• You’ll support employee retention by reducing boredom: Change, innovation, new projects, and opportunities can significantly help with employee retention and combat boredom, as it was found that 1 in 3 employees cite boredom as their main reason for leaving a job. - Korn Ferry

• You’ll increase sales over your peers who avoid change and innovation: 60% of companies who see change and innovation as a top priority say they see a rising portion of their sales from “new” products and services (launched in the past three years), compared with only 30% of their peers who see change and innovation as a strategic priority. - BCG

What Are the Common Types of Organizational Change?

There are many different reasons why an organization may spearhead a change initiative. Here are the most common types of organizational change.

Transformational Change

These are change initiatives that reshape the strategy and the organization. Some examples of transformational change include:

• Digital transformation
• Culture transformation
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Performance transformations and corporate turnarounds

Departmental or Team Change

This type of organizational change only affects a subset of the greater employee population. An example of departmental or team change could include adopting new email marketing software that only the marketing department uses.

Structural or Personnel Change

These are often shifts in an organizational hierarchy, teams, and responsibilities, as well as, hiring talent and layoffs. In addition to changes regarding people and their roles, personnel change initiatives can also include policy updates and alterations such as work from home or parental leave.

Adaptive or Disruptive Change

These are changes in response to a situation that arises. Some examples include switching suppliers due to supply chain issues from COVID, altering strategy to adapt to a downturn in the economy, or a process improvement or product innovation to meet customer needs.

Why Do Change Management Strategies Fail?

Unfortunately, the fact is that most change initiatives fail. Gartner found that only 34% of all change initiatives are successful.

So, how can you beat the odds and ensure your change initiative delivers the desired results? One way is by acknowledging the most common reasons change management strategies fail and actively working to avoid them yourself.

8 Reasons Why Organizational Change Fails

1. The case for change is unclear
2. Skepticism and lack of trust
3. Poor communication
4. Top-down change
5. Middle management isn’t bought in
6. Lack of capacity for change
7. Unequipped direct leaders
8. No training or upskilling for employees

The Case for Change is Unclear

When the majority of the employee population cannot understand why change is necessary or beneficial, they won’t be on board. In most cases, this response can be tied back to a weak or no vision for change, poor communication, and not delivering emotional or inspirational reasoning to justify the change.

Skepticism and Lack of Trust

If there is an underlying skepticism and lack of trust going into the change initiatives, employees' perceptions of management motivations for change will likely be questionable. A U.S. study uncovered that workers said they were cynical when it comes to change because:

• 29% believed management had a hidden agenda
• 31% believed management’s motives and intentions were different from what they communicated
• 28% believed management tried to cover up the real reason for the change initiative

The same study also uncovered an overall skepticism that the change would be successful citing:

• Only 43% believed the change would have the desired effect and outcome
• 28% doubted the change initiative would work as intended and achieve their goals

Poor Communication

In a study by Robert Half, it was found that the execution phase is the stage where change management fails. While in the next question, most respondents agreed that communicating clearly and frequently was the most important when leading change. Thus, we can correlate that the execution phase is where change management breaks down, with the most significant factor being how well the initiative is communicated.

Typically when change fails due to poor communication, it is one of these reasons.

• The message is unclear - If the strategy or vision is unclear when the change initiative is communicated, it will leave employees with more questions than answers and set a perception that the change is not well thought through.

• Communication is one-way - Individuals will not be inspired to change and will have difficulty getting on board if they do not have the opportunity to discuss the change. They need the opportunity to ask their questions and get the clarity they need to understand how the change will impact them personally.

• It’s infrequent - When there is minimal communication beyond the initial announcement, the change initiative begins to feel like “another flavor of the month” program that will soon be forgotten.

• It’s not inspirational or connects with the audience - If communication only focuses on the financial reasons for change, uses too many facts or figures, and is focused on what to do rather than why it’s happening, employees may not feel the change is beneficial to them and will feel less compelled to participate.

Top-Down Change

Research has found that in most situations, more than 80% of organizational change is managed from the top down. In this scenario, senior leadership makes decisions, creates the plans, and then rolls out the organizational change with a communication strategy focused on gaining buy-in and support from the workforce.

Despite the volume of top-down change initiatives, research has also noted that a top-down approach to change management is broken. When decisions are made at the top, they tend to be disconnected from the realities at the frontline and in middle management, which can be a factor in the high failure rate of change initiatives. Moreover, a top-down approach to change management is outdated due to today's complex and matrixed reporting structures as well as the interconnected and interdependencies between teams and departments. 

Middle Management Isn’t Bought In

It’s been found that 75% of change management programs fail due to a lack of employee support. And it is middle managers who are the linchpin between senior management’s change initiative and the change being executed on the frontlines. As Brant Cooper, author of Disruption Proof,  said, “The middle management layer is the coordinator and an organizer of the flow of information.” If the middle isn’t bought into the change, it will be hard to get workers on board as well.

Lack of Capacity for Change

When the volume and frequency of change are great, everyone from leaders to employees can become overloaded with work and quickly overwhelmed. As David Michaels, a partner at Bain, explains, “People have a limited capacity to absorb change, and each of us has a different level of resilience. As a result, efforts to meaningfully transform businesses can easily overwhelm employees and organizations.”

Unequipped Leaders

While senior management may spearhead the strategy for change, the middle managers, frontline, and team leaders will manage their teams to execute the strategy. When these leaders (change agents) are equipped with the skills and change management tools they need to lead change successfully, they’re left to figure it out as they go, putting the entire initiative in jeopardy.

No Upskilling for Employees

In many change scenarios, employees will need to learn new behaviors, acquire new competencies, and demonstrate new skills. Yet, unfortunately, employee training is an oversight in many change plans. Michael Watkins, a professor at IMD agrees. He says,  “Too many transformation initiatives fail to focus on the development of the capabilities required or people to be successful in the new organization. This is a mistake for two reasons. First, organizational transformation always alters the nature of “the work” that must be done. Second, one of the biggest reasons people resist change is the fear that they won’t be able to be successful in the new organization, that what got them here won’t get them there.”

What Is the Change Management Process?

Whether a small change to fix a problem or a company-wide transformation, it is common to feel overwhelmed by the scale of the challenge. Often those tasked with change leadership know the needed change; however, where they struggle is knowing where to start, who to bring in, and the order in which to accomplish tasks.

There are many change models, but one of the most famous change management processes is from John Kotter, an author and professor at Harvard Business School. In his book Leading Change, he outlines the following eight-step change management process that those tasked with change leadership can follow.

1. Secure buy-in
2. Leverage change leaders
3. Create a compelling vision
4. Continually communicate
5. Remove roadblocks
6. Celebrate small wins
7. Push the agenda forward
8. Embed the change in the culture

1. Secure Buy-In

The first step in the change process is securing buy-in for change from the key stakeholders of an organization. In an interview with Kotter, he explains the critical role buy-in plays. He says, “Buy-in is critical to making any large organizational change happen. Unless you win support for your ideas from people at all levels of your organization, big ideas never seem to take hold or have the impact you want. Our research has shown that 70% of all organizational change efforts fail, and one reason for this is executives simply don’t get enough buy-in, from enough people, for their initiatives and ideas.”

2. Leverage Change Leaders

For change to be successful, support from other leaders and stakeholders throughout the organization is vital. The visible backing of influential people in the company will help others get on board, as people they trust and respect see the change as legitimate and beneficial. In fact, according to research by Google and Raconteur, increased levels of executive leadership and buy-in are the most helpful factor when it comes to increasing employee engagement during organizational change. 

3. Create a Compelling Vision for Change

Communicating change with facts and figures may prove a case for change, but it won’t tap into employees’ feelings and ultimately win them over. A compelling vision, on the other hand, will. It should paint a picture of the future state you’re trying to obtain and how it will differ from the past. It should be so compelling that it inspires employees to want to get involved and ensure the change initiative is successful.

4. Continually Communicate

Frequent, bi-directional communication and feedback are one of the keys to successful change implementation. It’s not enough to announce the change at a staff meeting and leave it at that. Every leader involved, from first-line leaders to middle managers and senior leadership, must be bought in and ready to lead change within their teams. They need to inspire those around them that change is beneficial, create a sense of urgency, and help their employees implement the change into their roles.

5. Remove Roadblocks

Typically, change isn’t an isolated event. Other changes will often need to happen when change is implemented, such as altering a company's policies, removing inefficient processes, or breaking down internal silos. In addition to removing policy or procedural roadblocks, human roadblocks, such as resistance to change, will also need to be addressed. In which case, additional support and coaching will be needed to help them see why the change is beneficial and how to implement it.

6. Celebrate Small Wins Along the Journey

Change is a marathon and not a sprint. Creating measurable milestones to celebrate along the journey will give individuals short-term wins that will build excitement, engagement, and momentum to see the change through to fruition. Moreover, Gallup found that celebrating success and providing recognition weekly can improve work quality by 24% and reduce absenteeism by 27%.

7. Keep Pushing the Agenda Forward

Use the momentum and credibility generated from the first win to push the agenda forward. Now is the time to tackle improving legacy systems, structures, and policies that impede a successful change initiative. Be relentless with initiating any and all changes that need to be made to ensure the vision becomes a reality. 

8. Embed the Change in the Culture

For change to stick, it must be embedded into a company’s culture. Work culture is defined as the norms and behaviors within a company; thus, for a change initiative to be long-lasting, the new behaviors must replace the old ones. For this to happen, leaders must model the new behaviors while coaching and requiring their people to do the same. 

What Makes a Good Change Leader?

A good change leader inspires others and motivates action; is open to feedback and willing to listen to concerns; takes an active role in the change process, and bounces back when roadblocks arise. They make change easier for their employees, not harder. 

In the following list, you will find several characteristics, behaviors, and skills that will make any change leader truly effective and successful, regardless of the nature or scale of the change at hand.  

What Mistakes Do Leaders Make When Leading Change?

Change initiatives in the workplace rely heavily on the people leading them to be successful. That’s why when change leaders make mistakes, it can have a noticeably negative effect and set them and their team back a step. So, what mistakes do leaders make when leading change, exactly? According to a study of 148 real change leaders, the most common mistakes include: 

• Being too laissez-faire

• Making assumptions

• Excessively delegating

• Indecisiveness

• Assigning blame

• Ignoring the needs of employees

• Imposing views and opinions on others 

• Micromanaging

• Focusing on unrelated work

• Ignoring the change process 

• Losing sight of the big picture and vision for change

How Do You Communicate Change?

Change can be challenging, regardless of the type or scale of it. It is even more so when a communication breakdown occurs between the people leading the change and those implementing it. In fact, ineffective communication during organizational change can quickly exacerbate the change-related stress that 73% of employees report experiencing.

Moreover, 300 senior managers were asked by the human resources firm Robert Half what is most important when leading your company or team through a significant change; the vast majority (65%) said communicating clearly and frequently. 

Clearly, communicating effectively with employees before, during, and after a change initiative is essential. But, how exactly do you communicate about change at all stages? To give you an idea, here is a list of do’s and don’ts to keep in mind.

• Don't share limited information or overwhelm people with everything all at once. Instead, focus on answering the 5 W’s: What change is happening, who is affected, when/where it is happening, and why it is happening/necessary.

• Don't rely solely on facts and figures to connect with your audience. Instead, use storytelling to connect with your audience on an emotional level.

• Don't only use one communication channel. Instead, use a variety of communication channels, such as staff meetings, one-on-one meetings, written documents, email, videos, and collaboration tools.

• Don't talk about it once and never again. Instead, repeat the vision of the change frequently to help keep it top of mind and provide regular updates to keep the momentum going.

• Don't ignore questions, feedback, concerns, and thoughts. Instead, encourage two-way communication about the change by listening to the views and concerns of others, answering their questions honestly, and accepting constructive feedback.

• Don't ignore the tactical requirements. Instead, explicitly explain what this means for individuals and how their roles/ responsibilities will change.

Why Do People Resist or Fear Change?

It isn’t the change that employees fear; it’s the uncertainty that comes with change that is the problem. The status quo is predictable, safe, and comfortable. When the announcement of a change initiative shakes up life at work, it removes the stability and predictability we all crave, and the natural reaction is to resist it.

However, when done well, the natural tendency to resist or fear change can be overcome with good planning and management. Researchers at McKinsey have uncovered and shared in the article, “The psychology of change management,” four conditions that must be met for employees to overcome the natural tendency to resist change.

1. A Compelling Story - Individuals need to understand and agree with the reason for the change.

2. Role Modeling - Individuals must witness those they admire in senior leadership embracing change and demonstrating new behaviors.

3. Reinforcing Mechanisms - It’s not enough to only make the needed change; the change must go a step further and ensure systems, processes, and incentives are aligned to support the change.

4. Capability Building - Individuals will need new knowledge and skills to make the desired changes and must be provided ample upskilling opportunities.

Resistance can be the top obstacle to overcome when leading change. Underestimating or ignoring a resistance to change can be detrimental to success. But with an understanding of why individuals fear change and a comprehensive change management plan and leadership training, leaders across the organization will be prepared to help their teams shift their mindset from resisting to embracing change.

How Do You Assess Your Change Readiness?

Before announcing and jumping feet first into another change initiative, take some time to assess just how ready you are for it. One way to do this is by completing a change readiness assessment like the one below. It was designed to give team leaders, managers, supervisors, and change agents a chance to assess the factors which are known to greatly affect a change initiative's likelihood of success and that they have a degree of control over at a high level.

What Are Strategies Leaders Can Use to Reinforce and Sustain Change?

Change in the workplace never happens overnight. It can take months, if not years, to be fully adopted and considered a success. For that reason, leaders need practical strategies to reinforce the change initiative and sustain its momentum past the initial kick-off. 

In fact, according to Nexum, without reinforcement strategies, just 17% of change initiatives deliver on their promises. However, that number jumps to a whopping 70% when reinforcement and sustainment strategies are implemented.

So, what exactly are some of those strategies and activities that leaders can use to sustain change? 

• Make a conscious effort to lead by example and model the same behaviors or attitudes that you expect of your employees.

• Identify critical milestones and then collaborate with your team on how you will celebrate when they’re achieved to create excitement and drive motivation.

• Publicly celebrate the small wins, such as when someone overcomes an ongoing roadblock they have been struggling with.

• Recognize the efforts of your employees not only one-on-one but with the team as well to provide encouragement for all.

• During regular one-on-one meetings with employees, take a few minutes to discuss the change initiative. How do they feel about the initiative? Where are they struggling? Can you help them in any way? In addition to getting a pulse on how your employees are doing, this is your chance to hold employees accountable for the roles and responsibilities they agreed to at the beginning of the initiative.

• Meet with fellow leaders who are also leading the change to share best practices and insights on what is and isn’t working to help encourage one another and provide support.

• Invite a senior leader to join a staff meeting to reiterate the vision for the change, discuss the progress they’re seeing, and personally thank employees for their efforts.

• When a coachable moment arises, take the opportunity to provide coaching and constructive feedback in-the-moment that will help your employees immediately.

• When appropriate, try gamifying the implementation of the change initiative. A great example of this is creating a contest where employees are rewarded when they demonstrate behaviors that align with the initiative's objectives.

• Encourage employees to continue asking questions and offering constructive feedback as they implement the change.

• Make the change more tangible for employees by sharing metrics and figures highlighting the progress made.

Why Do Leaders Need Change Management Training?

Change management training aims to increase the odds of successful implementation. But to do so, training shouldn’t be isolated to senior leaders. Leaders across the organization must be equipped to implement change with their people. The more prepared leaders are, the better the experience will be for employees.

The training needs to go beyond how to design effective change strategies. Leaders across the organization require change management training to:

• Understand and apply the best practices of change leadership

• Gain the soft skills to handle the reactions that come from resistance or fear of change

• Avoid the common reason most change initiatives fail

• Develop the skills to communicate in an inspirational way that makes their employees want to be involved and take action

• Sustain momentum and ensure the change initiative sticks

Successful change implementation hinges on how well leaders can embed the desired change into everyone’s work, which requires the skills and know-how of the direct leader to do so. Luckily, change management is a skill that can be learned and strengthened through leadership development. When leaders are prepared to navigate change, they will be much more confident to step up and be the change leader their team needs.

What Do the Best Change Management Training Programs Have in Common?

Change is rarely easy. However, change can be much less daunting for leaders when they feel prepared to lead change within their teams, and change management training is the key to developing the knowledge, skills, and confidence to do so. To get the most out of training, look for a change management program that does the following.

It’s Practical

The best change management programs strike the right balance of knowledge transfer with hands-on application. These programs ensure the curriculum is designed so that participants can practice applying their new knowledge and skills in the classroom.

It’s Easy to Remember and Use Day-to-Day

Theory is great, but if it isn’t easy to remember and apply back on the job, it won’t be overly useful. The best change management program distills complex ideas and theories into easy-to-remember models and tools leaders can use when navigating change with their own teams.

It Teaches Both Hard and Soft Skills

The skills leaders need in change management must go beyond hard skills of developing a strategy or plan. Yes, leaders need to understand the mechanics of change, but they also need the skill to help overcome the emotional side of change with their people. The best change management programs do both; they develop the hard and soft skills needed to lead change.

It’s Led By People Who Have Been There Before

Having a facilitator who has been a people leader tasked with helping their team navigate organizational change can make all the difference when developing change management skills. These facilitators can tap into their own experience and use storytelling to bring change management concepts to life in the real world. In addition, they have the knowledge and experience to know how employees may react to change and have likely learned the hard way the best route to take when helping others overcome resistance to change.

Next Steps

It’s not a matter of whether or not change will happen; it’s about how disruptive, complex, and long-lasting the change will be. As such, leaders at all levels, from the executive suite to the frontline, need the skills, tools, and confidence to lead change of any kind and on any scale when it happens. Fortunately, with Niagara Institute’s lineup of leadership programs and roster of qualified professional leadership coaches, you’ll be able to develop the strong change leadership skills any leader needs to not just survive, but truly thrive in today’s ever-changing workplace.