BY MARK B. SOLOMON, EXECUTIVE EDITOR–NEWS
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Strategy
EFFECTIVE CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN TODAY’S HIGH-VELOCITY BUSINESS
environment is akin to, in the words of a baseball player trying to hit against pitching
great Sandy Koufax, “drinking coffee with a fork.”
According to a 2015 multi-industry survey by consultancy CEB Global, 87 percent
of executives expect the pace of their organization’s change initiatives to remain con-
stant, or to increase, during the next three years. About 70 percent of executives said
today’s changes are more complex than they’ve ever been. The level of complexity is
reflected in the outcomes; between 50 and 60 percent of change initiatives will fail,
while 16 percent will show mixed results, according to the survey. Only about one-
third of change management projects are considered successful.
About 60 percent of managers said they lack the proper experience to adequately implement change management programs, according to CEB. This can cause
change-related stress that rolls downhill, with severe performance penalties attached.
CEB estimates that the change-stressed employee performs 5 percent worse than the
average employee. For the typical company, this means a $32.5 million hit to the bottom line for every $1 billion in revenue, the firm said.
Companies “undertake each change with the goal of improving business performance, yet each change also pressures employees to adapt,” according to a CEB white
paper. Perversely, stress-related performance losses can counteract the initiative’s
Change management
is a tricky exercise
with big penalties
attached. Here’s how
to get it right.
A change is A change is
gonna come …
