While employers believe a majority of their change management programmes succeed initially, the truth is, only one-quarter of organisations are able to keep the momentum going over the long term. This lack of continued success with change management initiatives is partly due to companies’ inability to prepare and train managers to be effective change leaders.
Focus on the fundamentals
According to the 2013 Towers Watson Change and Communication ROI Survey, employers say 55% of their change management initiatives meet their initial objectives. However, only 1 in 4 respondents say they are able to sustain gains from their change management initiatives over the long term. Change management initiatives can range from programme or policy changes, to business transformation and mergers and acquisitions. Jeffrey Tang, Director of Talent & Rewards, Towers Watson, Hong Kong said, “Most companies are having a difficult time keeping the momentum of their change management initiatives going. The organisations that are able to sustain change over time are those that focus on the fundamentals that we know drive successful change: communication, training, leadership engagement and measurement. And despite nearly uniform acceptance that these are the key drivers of change, the companies that aren’t good at them aren’t getting any better.”
Spearheading change
The survey also unveiled the fact that most companies recognise that managers have an important role to play in managing change. In fact, nearly 9 out of 10 respondents train their managers to manage change. However, less than one quarter of all respondents report their training to be effective. Tang commented, “Managers are a catalyst for successful change. Now is the ideal time for organisations to look at this lingering problem from a new angle, focusing on the manager’s role. For managers to succeed at spearheading change, companies need to change their approach, train managers more effectively and do a much better job of communicating with them.”
Indeed, the research shows that only 68% of senior managers say they are getting the message about the reasons behind major organisational decisions. Below the senior management level, the message dwindles further. Only 53% of middle managers and 40% of first-line supervisors say their management does a good job of explaining reasons behind major decisions.
Inform, engage & enable
To prepare managers for their role as successful change leaders, companies must ensure that they focus on informing, engaging and enabling their employees. Managers need to understand why people resist change and acknowledge that they themselves are likely to resist change. They also need to be visible, engage in dialogue with their team early and often, and ensure that employees feel like they have a stake in the success of the organisation.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
