You may be aware that the widely reported failure rate for large scale organisational change is close to 70%. When you look at large organisations (1 billion+ revenue) this figure jumps up to 85%.
How can this be so?
We at Chaordic Global believe that :
“You cannot achieve organisational transformation without transforming the human side of change – your leaders as well as your people”
The link between Transformational Change and People Change
When you are endeavouring to achieve a transformational change that is organisation-wide (i.e. systemic) you could be transforming things like a technology system, a restructure, a merger, downsizing, a product or service innovation, a new business model etc.
All of the above transformations are more likely to be successful if there is also a transformation in the human and relational aspects of an organisation. This could be any of the following:
- A change in the mindsets and communication style of the senior leaders. This is because change is leader-led and leadership role modelling is a critical factor in successful transformational change
- New rituals that change the quality of meetings during transition periods
- Language change – commonly used words and phrases will either create empowerment and engagement or fear, disengagement and lip service
- Change in expectations
- Emotional validation skills needed to manage the difficult emotions of change
- A change in what’s valued by the organisation – “Values Redesign” work
- Purpose clarification and purpose work. This is the ability to define a compelling high-level purpose that all people and all departments can align with and get excited about
- Managing fears, concerns and people’s natural resistance to change
- Empowerment development at the top level and then for all staff involved in the change
- Transformational listening skills – again starting at the top and being given to all leaders of an organisation
- Mental and behavioural agility skills – the ability to adapt and develop resilience for your organisational staff.
When the emotional, relational and mindset aspects of change are actively and continuously handled, change is much more likely to be successful.
How do you handle these aspects as a leader? Where are you strong and where are you weak?
This intangible, human-centric work is what we at Chaordic Global specialise in. If you would like assistance with empowering your leaders and staff during periods of transformational change, reach out to us and a consultant will contact you to discuss your needs.
If you as a leader are faced with the challenge of transformational changes, you may benefit from some leadership coaching and support. You can experience our philosophy and approach to transformational leadership by organising a session below.