One of the most frequent and frustrating leadership challenges we experience is integrating change fully into new ways of working, to the extent that it is sustained and the benefits are fully realised. Here, we unpack how to overcome resistance to change and ensure that it sticks.
If you set New Year’s resolutions this year, how many have you stuck to? In 2024, only one in six Britons followed through on their good intentions, and not on all of them. Save more, spend less, get fit, lose weight – the benefits are so clear, yet people find it extremely difficult to sustain positive change.
The same is true in the workplace. Investing in change in an organisation is an expensive commitment. Millions are spent every year on new systems, operating models, processes, and training and development programmes. Still, a stubbornly low percentage of change is successfully embedded.
The 30 percent success rate hasn’t budged after many years of research, and we now know that even successful transformations still leave value on the table.
McKinsey & Company
Why do so many change programmes fail?
Through research and our own experience, we’ve compiled the most common reasons organisations fail to implement change and reap the rewards:
- Leaders are not aligned to a vision of what needs to be achieved and why
- Poor engagement of employees
- Not enough focus on the ‘how’
- Failing to identify and overcome resistance
- Overlooking the impact of the organisation’s culture
- Overwhelming teams by doing too much change in one go, or pushing change too fast
What is resistance to change?
Of all the barriers to change, employee resistance seems one of the most troublesome to overcome. We are often asked to support a client who has been trying to implement a new strategy or change programme for some time and needs help getting everyone ‘on board’.
Typically, they feel they have communicated the change well – perhaps through ‘town halls’ and team briefings – but are struggling to get teams to shift mindsets and behaviours and adopt new ways of working.
People resist change for many reasons. They may be uncomfortable with the unknown or perceived risk. They may misunderstand or disagree with the goals and/or the strategy of the change initiative. They may fear what change means for their role or even their job security. They may lack trust in the management team or the organization.
Harvard Business Review
Just like our New Year resolutions, resistance to change is sometimes rational (I can’t afford a gym membership; or fresh food is too expensive) but mostly emotional or even unconscious (I’m worried I’ll look out of place at the gym; or I don’t feel confident cooking from scratch). When we are busy juggling home and work demands, our emotions get left unexamined and unresolved.
Five steps to overcome resistance to change
Step 1: Don’t rush the Awareness stage
It’s easy for leaders to forget that they have usually spent months together working through what change is needed and why, then only a few hours (if that) engaging the wider organisation with the vision and rationale for change.
What might feel like an unreasonable amount of communication is needed to bring this to life in a meaningful way for every employee, including ‘what’s in it for them’, for customers and for the organisation.
Step 2: Consider colleague experience mapping
Not all change is created equal. Some teams will be impacted significantly by change and others perhaps barely at all.
A colleague experience-mapping exercise puts change leaders in the shoes of the different groups who will be on the receiving end of the change. It encourages a ‘best possible’ approach and determines the different engagement approaches and concrete actions needed for each group.
Step 3: Focus on the ‘How’
People want to know what a planned change means for them in practical terms. What is going to be different and what will be the same? They want to be reassured that important stuff has been considered. How is it going to impact customers? How will I get my job done? Will my critical tasks take longer?
A Day in the Life workshop is a great way to bring the change to life in advance. It is an experiential, energising session where teams walk through (physically or virtually) their new model day and what it means in terms of processes, systems and handoffs. It also flags subtle but critical improvements to make ahead of change implementation.
Step 5: Monitor different responses to change
At every stage of change, people will respond in different ways. Some will be immediate ambassadors, while others may be stubborn sceptics. Some may be indifferent; others quiet reflectors.
Use a stakeholder matrix to map out where people are and adopt tactics to move them to the most productive (or least damaging) place. Be careful not to make assumptions. Sometimes people are much more engaged with change than they appear, they just may need help to play a more active role.
Step 4: Don’t scrimp on embedding support
It’s easy for all the attention and investment to go on designing and implementing a change programme. Time and again we are told that support disappears as soon as the new system is live and the structure in place.
McKinsey’s research found that as much as 20% of financial value is lost after implementation. This is certainly reflected in our experience.
Use the output from previous steps to identify necessary support for new ways of working, or new mindsets and behaviours. Put these in place and run regular review sessions to evaluate progress and troubleshoot remaining challenges.
The cost of engaging people properly and overcoming resistance to change is dwarfed by the expense of trying to implement change that doesn’t stick.
For further inspiration on how to lead change brilliantly:
- Explore Pecan’s Leading Change and Engagement services
- Read Pecan’s Insight: What is ‘everyday experimentation’ and why is it important at work?
