One thing is certain: change is inevitable. Which is why I would be more than a bit skeptical of any organisation that told me they weren’t facing change. Change comes in many forms; it can be social, economic, technical, even environmental. Many organisations are also choosing to create their own change, either in response to, or in the context of, external changes that are taking place on a broader scale.

But one thing is for certain: whether we choose it or not, there is almost always change. 

As an experienced leadership coach and change strategist, I’m always keen to find out more about how people cope with the changes they face on a daily basis, particularly in a corporate environment. Which is why I recently ran a mini-survey on LinkedIn, to gain some insight into how well-equipped people feel when facing change in their organisations. 

Change survey: key findings

1. 95% of organisations are facing change of some sort. 

2. Almost ¾ of leaders feel equipped to handle change only some of the time.

3. 100% of respondents report that it’s a ‘mixed bag’ in terms of whether the people working in their organisation are equipped to handle the changes they face.

If I’m honest, the results of the survey don’t surprise me, but they do concern me.

If change is so commonplace - inevitable even - then why do so many people feel ill-equipped to handle it? 

How organisations can ensure that change initiatives don’t fail

Any experienced change strategist will tell you that in a corporate environment, around 70% of change initiatives fail. That’s pretty high, right? Which is why we need to stop and ask ourselves why. 

In terms of our ability to successfully implement change in organisations, there are two key factors which are really significant:

We need to put change into context for people. 

Yes, context has always played an important part in the success (or failure) of change initiatives or organisational responses to change, but arguably, context has never been more important than it is today. In the current post-pandemic climate, organisations going through change are often doing so with employees who are under-resourced and already depleted.

What’s more, many organisations have experienced a high turnover of staff in recent years, as a result of the “Great Resignation”, which began in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and has created enormous impact on the working landscape. 

Context is vital because people are not in the same headspace today as they were three years ago. We’re living in a very different social and economic environment right now, so organisations leading people through change need to take that into consideration. That means having open and honest conversations about change, and about what it means and looks like for the individuals and teams involved. 

Following the pandemic we were catapulted into an environment where change was happening incredibly quickly. The result of this was that for what was possibly the first time ever, most of us were kept informed of - and involved with - organisational change and decision-making on a day-to-day basis. This replaced the culture of monthly or quarterly updates (which have historically been the approach when leading organisational change), and people adjusted to that ‘new normal’. 

We need to equip people to have conversations about - and take ownership of - change in organisations.

That new expectation and mindset that people now have - that change can and does happen rapidly - is a game-changer in terms of change in organisations. 

During the pandemic, there were a lot more bottom-up, frontline staff-led change initiatives. High expectations were placed on staff and they were given more autonomy, because the situation dictated it; people had to adjust in order to make things work. 

What change needs to look like

It worries me to see that instead of embracing this welcome development, some organisations seem to be moving backwards towards a more traditional change management approach, involving:

• Setting out the corporate vision

• Laying down expectations

• Engaging stakeholders and

• Creating change alliances. 

Although these elements still play an important role in change management, they’re no longer the primary way in which organisations should be engaging people with change. Post-pandemic change leadership needs to be more about:

• Empowering

• Enabling

• Equipping and 

• Resourcing people 

to live through change in the organisation. 

Untangled - a practical and inspirational guide to change we choose and change we don’t

I’ve worked in change management for 25 years, and during that time I came to realise that there was no collective resource for living through change we choose and change we don’t. Although this wasn’t the reason that I set out to write my new book, Untangled, it’s absolutely one of the reasons why Untangled is a key resource for organisations: because it does exactly that! It helps people to clarify what’s important to them and to understand how change fits in with the rest of their lives, so that they can choose how to move forward through organisational change.

When used in combination with the complementary book group guide, Untangled provides a simple framework for people living through change, opening the door to conversations about change and enabling leaders to support any change initiative that an organisation is leading. 
Untangled is available in bookshops from November 2023. Get in touch to pre-order copies for your organisation today.