Only one in three (32%) mid-to-senior level business leaders said that the last change they led achieved healthy change adoption by employees, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc.
Gartner defines healthy change adoption as the success elements that leaders can directly influence – getting employees to act on change, do so on time, and in a healthy way that does not adversely impact employee performance or engagement or cause undue stress.
“Organizations with better than average healthy change adoption report two times higher year-over-year revenue growth rate,” said Ingrid Laman, Vice President, Advisory in the Gartner HR practice.
Typically, leaders use inspiration and the vision of change to encourage employees to adopt it. However, Gartner analysis found that the inspirational approach only works when there is high change trust. When change trust is low, Gartner’s model predicts that only one-quarter of changes led by inspirational leaders will achieve healthy change adoption.
The most effective change leadership approach occurs when leaders ‘routinize’ change, making it instinctive for employees to adopt it as part of their normal workflow. Gartner has identified three ways the HR function can help leaders routinize change to achieve healthy change adoption:
HR clarifies leaders’ change role
HR must help leaders communicate that constant change is a business reality and focus employees on making regular progress throughout the change journey. This requires business leaders to adopt an active role in leading change continuously, not just during intense periods. Leaders should regularly prepare employees for change and acknowledge progress against interim goals, rather than focusing solely on a shifting future vision.
“To business leaders, this may sound like more work than they can manage,” said Laman. “HR can help by showing them that acknowledging the change journey is not additional work. Instead, it involves applying their existing skills in new ways, redistributing and balancing time and effort to make change leadership sustainable.”
HR equips leaders with emotion-regulation tools
Leaders and employees often experience discomfort when required to lead or adopt change. It is difficult for leaders to support employees emotionally without understanding the source of this discomfort. However, if this discomfort is not managed, it can result in resistance.
HR must equip leaders with techniques to manage the emotional side of change, including tools to help employees recognise and cope with their reactions. Ultimately, leaders are responsible for enabling employees to reach an emotional state that allows them to act on change despite uncertainty or discomfort.
HR teaches leaders to build change reflexes
Leaders who routinize change enable employees to act by developing intuitive habits, making change adoption second nature. HR must support leaders in building change reflexes by identifying the core change skills that matter most and embedding opportunities to practise them within daily work.
HR should partner with leaders to explore:
- What are the core change skills – the skills needed to adopt any change – that employees must develop?
- When and how should employees practise these skills?
- How can leaders encourage employees to commit to developing and applying these skills?
“When leaders routinize change, our model predicts that employees are three times more likely to adopt changes on time and in a healthy way, even when change trust is low,” said Kayla Velnoskey, Director in the Gartner HR practice.
Gartner clients can read more in the report Reinventing Change Leadership: Leading Through Never-Ending Change.
