Forbes quotes a 2013 study by Towers Watson which surveyed 276 large and midsize organisations and found that only 25% of change management initiatives are successful over the long term.
This is consistent with the findings of the ‘guru’ of change – John Kotter, who’s 1996 research revealed that only 30 percent of change programs succeed.
So its pretty clear – only 3 out of every 10 change initiatives you undertake will succeed. Which means 70% of efforts are wasted and fail to achieve the desired results. What a huge waste of time and resource! Considering how long change theory has been around, and how we are constantly in a state of flux to meet changing market needs, why is the failure rate so high and what can you do to improve the effectiveness of any change programme, big or small?
Change theory is well researched, understood and accepted. McKinsey have published a great article that generalizes this and suggests that four basic conditions are necessary before employees will change their behaviour:
1) a compelling story
2) role modelling
3) reinforcing mechanisms
4) capability building
Great theory, but often poorly executed. Below is a critique of what’s not working for the first two elements of the McKinsey model, and how to fix it:
1) a compelling story
The change message and communications don’t work. There are two reasons:
a) The ‘why’ (driver for change) doesn’t relate to most people within the organization. A lot of change messages are generic and about ‘the company’ and not about tangible, relevant elements or people, so the individuals that are the heart and soul of ‘the company’ don’t connect. The best thing leaders and change managers can do, is develop a diverse project team from across the company to build the change plan and message. They are then able to give insight into a ‘why’ people can better connect to and they become informed and empowered change agents. We all know that when we choose for ourselves, we are far more committed to the outcome.
b) People don’t connect to the message that creates fear if change doesn’t happen, or they don’t connect to the rosy vision of the future if change does happen. So should you use the ‘burning platform’ or the ‘desired future’ when communicating the change? Which is more compelling? All individuals will have different intrinsic motivators, therefore you need to tell the story through both lenses through varied platforms – in person, via managers, via senior leaders, email, intranet or company newsletter, depending on your organization and the scale of the change.
Regardless of size or scale and method of communication, some people will respond to the ‘we are doomed if we don’t make this change now’ and others will be engaged by the vision of how great things can be if change occurs now. McKinsey say that while it is impossible to prescribe the ratio to split communication between positive and negative messages (it will be unique to each change program), they strongly advise change leaders and managers not to swing the pendulum too far in one direction or another, ideally have a mix of relevant messages and stories through both lenses.
2) role modelling
The theory refers to senior leaders role modeling the change. Walking the talk, leading from the front, modeling the change, cliché after cliché.
a) What actually IS role modelling? It is multifaceted. It is not just words – its not standing there espousing the benefits of the change publicly. Its being authentic, saying the same thing privately and publicly, its our presence, our actions and our decisions. Its about being consistent with our actions, and asking the same of others, and having the tough conversations when we see influential people not acting or speaking in a way consistent with the required change.
b) To improve effectiveness of this element, your organisation needs to have people throughout the organisation modelling the change – not just ‘the suits’ or ‘founders’. As mentioned in #1 above, if you assemble a cross organisational project team, these people can also be change agents and model the change. If you have a large customer service team, they wont relate to how the CFO behaves, but their rockstar administrator will have much more influence over their day to day behaviours.
Investing time and energy to build a comprehensive, relatable and effective change and communication plan, will greatly increase your chances of being in the 30% of change initiatives that are successful.
My next post in the coming weeks will address the following two elements ofreinforcing mechanisms and capability building to really set you, your company and change programme up for success.
The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.
Charles Kettering
