Organizations face a constant barrage of change, whether they’re grappling with shape-shifting technology, avalanches of data, or the relentless demands of global integration. It’s no wonder that this constant fire drill makes it difficult for even the most forward-thinking companies to manage the constant pace of change, let alone think strategically about it.
Yet, being able to anticipate and make the most of these disruptions is what distinguishes market leaders from followers. How do organizations compete–and even thrive–in a world where the business of business keeps shifting? How do you make change work, when the work keeps changing?
We learned that the organizations that make the most of disruption are embracing three critical building blocks:
- LEAD AT ALL LEVELS
Why do most companies struggle to manage change successfully? Because they don’t cultivate a change-centric culture.
Change has to start at the top, and it needs to include the entire organization.
Whether it is top or middle management, change must become a personal responsibility. Change-leadership activities and skill building need to be included in personal goals.
Companies that harness disruption also consistently engage employees communication channels and collaborate.
Finally, they recruit emerging internal leaders. These new leaders, with their collaborative networks, can have thousands of followers internally, giving them more influence over employees than many top managers.
- MAKE CHANGE MATTER
It’s crucial to create a clear vision of the importance of change within an organization. Yet, 87% organizations say not enough focus is put on change management in critical projects. And most invest only 5% or less of total budgets in change management activities.
Study respondents point to five barriers that create a discrepancy between the financial resources allocated and those needed, ranging from a lack of understanding of the benefits of change management to little understanding of how change management roles relate to one another.
It is critical that top managers establish the right organizational context by making change a priority. They must create this vision, reinforce the benefits, and inject change management into the corporate culture.
- BUILD THE MUSCLE
The accelerating pace of disruption is accompanied by difficulties to keep up with shortage of resources, process changes, and IT. It’s the job of change professionals to manage and direct highly skilled, enterprise-wide resources to mitigate these risks.
But the demand for change capabilities is outpacing the efforts by organizations to address it. Most companies report that the average amount of in-house change management experience is six years or less. Companies need to attract, retain, and develop change professionals and build up internal knowledge and skills. They can’t wait to address these needs by reinventing activities and roles on a project-by-project basis.
Change leaders know this. They’re formalizing change expertise and systematically building enterprise-wide change capabilities.
Disruption today is a constant. Despite the fact that many companies have solid know-how in making change work, they haven’t gotten better at actively managing it. By understanding the gap between themselves and change leaders, they can start to close it.
Don Hjelm 