Change happens. You can ignore it, or you can manage it. According to Darwin,
It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.
That’s why understanding how organizational change impacts your company can help you not only survive but also thrive.
A recent Harvard Business Review survey found that:
- 37% of companies had energy for change but lacked focus
- 20% were skeptical because of past failures
- 24% were stuck because of a lack of energy and direction
- 19% were struggling to change
Although 37% of companies have the energy to effect change, their efforts are too scattered to realize significant change. If that behavior continues, businesses lose the momentum for change. Once apathy begins to spread, organizations struggle to effect change and fail to realize transformational benefits.
Improve Employee Experiences
No work environment is perfect, but changing a company’s culture can be a daunting task. However, focusing on employee experience helps.
Reduce Churn
Voluntary turnover is preventable. The majority of employees leave because of a lack of career development or work-life balance. With the ongoing labor shortages, replacing staff may take longer and cost more. Implementing changes to create a more positive work environment can minimize turnover, provided changes are well managed.
When companies fail to manage change, their employees become anxious. This increased stress can motivate staff to leave. Developing a better employee experience takes more than creating a growth plan or offering a more flexible work schedule. It takes a change management plan.
Increase Productivity
Helping staff do their jobs more efficiently lets them know they have value. By implementing training programs and deploying technology, businesses can improve employee satisfaction and productivity. However, companies that fail to think about how change impacts the individual disrupt operations without increasing productivity. It’s critical that employees understand how technology can improve their job performance.
Strengthen Engagement
Organizational change should help align companies, people, and processes. When it does, companies have higher employee engagement that results in improved job satisfaction, fewer voluntary exits, and increased productivity. Individuals perform better when they understand the value or purpose of their work.
Without engagement, employees leave. A recent poll found that 34% of employees are engaged at work. The remaining 66% are burned out, disengaged, and unproductive. Changing the organizational environment through well-designed management can help increase the number of engaged employees.
SEE ALSO: 3 Business Transformation KPIs Every Organization Should Track
Create Resilience
Organizations have difficulty making adjustments under duress. No matter how successful they may be, companies struggle to change course during a crisis. Yet, that ability is essential to corporate survival. Without resilience, businesses fail to thrive.
Agility
Businesses cannot predict the future, but they must be able to respond to it. Having the mindset to pivot quickly to market changes is essential to corporate resilience. Recent events have shown that companies must change to address higher levels of ambiguity, complexity, volatility, and uncertainty. Knowing how to manage change minimizes the risks associated with rapid change.
Innovation
Agile companies can lead to innovation which is vital to sustained growth. Just ask Blockbuster. The company was the market leader in video rentals in the 1980 and 1990s. By 2010, they were filing for bankruptcy. Why? They failed to change their business model to compete with Netflix.
Given the rapid global changes, organizations can no longer afford to ignore the need for change. Yes, change can be risky, but when properly managed, it can lead to needed innovation.
Efficiency
Deploying technology improves workplace efficiency; however, it also introduces significant changes in how work is done. For companies to realize efficiencies, they need to manage these changes. Without increased efficiency, organizations lack the resilience to remain profitable regardless of external pressures.
Add Competitive Advantage
Beyond the internal benefits, organizational change can identify new business opportunities, improve profitability, and sustain growth.
- New Business. Embracing change helps companies look beyond their immediate market for opportunities to grow. Sometimes all it takes is a change in perspective to find a new market or business partner.
- Improved Profitability. Change projects must lead to improved profitability. If they do not, the change was poorly planned or implemented.
- Sustained Growth. Organizational change management is central to sustained growth. Without the ability to adapt as circumstances change, businesses will fail to sustain growth.
The impact of organizational change can go beyond its immediate implementation to deliver long-term competitive advantages for sustained growth.
Ready for a Change
If you’re looking to proactively change, contact Cask Government Services for a complimentary consultation. Let us help your organizations realize the transformational benefits of controlled change.
