Why managing change is important

People are at the centre of many of the changes in the workplace. People professionals and HR functions are among those best placed to drive effective change. They have a role and responsibility to ensure that organisation development, (re)design, due process, employee voice and clear communications are appropriately and effectively addressed as part of the change process. L&D professionals have a particular role to play in ensuring the long-term sustainability of a change, through effective design and delivery of learning initiatives. It’s key for all people professionals to understand and work within the network of change activities across different departments, enabling them to anticipate, design, and shape organisational change. 

 

Change management matters not least because change is taking place at an accelerating pace and there’s evidence change initiatives often fail. Our research has found that fewer than 60% of re-organisations met their stated objectives - usually bottom line improvement. Failure to introduce effective change can have a high impact: loss of market position, removal of senior management, loss of stakeholder credibility, loss of key employees, and reduction in employee engagement and motivation. 

Organisational forms are themselves evolving. Increasing competitive challenges and the need to be responsive to changing environments are resulting in new organisational models. Traditional models following functional or matrix lines are being supplemented by models that rely on project teams, networks and virtual structures. Change management responses will also have to be adaptive. 

 

In theory, some of these newer models, for example virtual and project-based structures, allow increased flexibility to respond to change. However they are not always introduced uniformly, and in practice often bring other issues that affect change management, for example ability to share knowledge and to operate efficiently. They may also impact communication or employee commitment, which themselves have implications for change effectiveness.