Changing the Face of Change

Why do studies show (and lots of them!) that most change initiatives within organisations fail?

The bottom line is most change initiatives fail because quite simply people fail to change.

Australia Post wrote an article a little while ago about change and transformation, stressing the importance of having a compelling ‘why’ to engage people in the process. While this is certainly beneficial I don’t feel that strategy is enough to deliver the types of change today being demanded by our organisations

At the risk of stating the obvious, successful change of any type ultimately requires people to do something different.

Whether that is to use a new IT system or answer the telephone differently – someone somewhere has to change their behaviour. The simple, often overlooked fact is that people don’t like change. Behavioural change is not automatic and it’s not easy. But without behavioural change, the organisation doesn’t change, and therefore, the measures that matter do not improve, leaving the organisation with yet another missed opportunity.

As a result, many focus on the parts that are the most tangible and easiest to control – the systems, processes and procedures, the documentation and design of the change. They pour their focus into planning the change and communicating the change before the initiative and as soon as it starts the energy drains away as the ‘human element’ kicks in.

Organisational change only happens when people change, which means that we need to implement a change transfer strategy to support people with that process. We need a way of holding people to account so they will do what they say they will do and make the behavioural adjustments to allow the change to ‘stick’.

I’m looking to change the face of change.

Join me in developing a ground breaking approach to change.

If your organisation has a change initiative that MUST deliver change, and you are nervous as to whether KPI’s and outcomes will be achieved through the current planned approach – call me now.

I’m looking for a single project to partner on and am excited by the difference that truly delivering rock solid change could make for an organisation.

Emma Weber is a recognized authority on the transfer of learning. As CEO of Lever – Transfer of Learning, she has helped companies such as Telstra, Oracle and BMW deliver and measure tangible business results from learning. Emma has also been a guest speaker at learning effectiveness conferences worldwide and authored the hugely successful book Turning Learning into Action. Much more detail around the issues and solutions examined in this article are available in the book – please feel free to download a free chapter.