Change is a key part of growth but taking employees with you on the journey is crucial if transformation is to be successful. Here, Dr Surbhi Sehgal, Organisational Psychologist and MBA Course Leader at the University of Brighton, explains why being able to communicate signs of change early and help employees overcome transformational challenges is essential to future success.
Change can be daunting. Whether it’s a change that impacts an individual, such as change of job roles or manager, or a more large-scale change such as rebranding or restructuring an organisation, it’s essential that people feel supported during periods of transition.
What’s often overlooked is the challenge of how change dynamics unfold and how it can impact workplace culture and people. If not managed effectively, change fatigue can negatively impact employees and their overall wellbeing.
A recent report published by management consultancy, Gartner, titled Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders in 2024, revealed that because of continuous change, employees are 42% less likely to remain in their current jobs, 27% become less responsive and 30% have lower levels of trust.
The same report also highlighted that only 8% of HR leaders are confident in introducing plans to actively manage change and avoid employee fatigue. This suggests that businesses’ ability to effectively communicate change is a key piece of the puzzle for successful transformations and accelerating growth.
That’s why it’s vital that businesses anticipate, mitigate and manage the risks of change fatigue while introducing new changes and integrate this information as part of their change management strategy.
If we break it down, there are three key considerations that leaders and senior managers should be aware of. First, identify the signs of change fatigue and deliver quality training to help managers address them; second, put plans in place so that employees can overcome negative consequences of transformational changes and third, design preventative measures that will help organisations mitigate any further impact brought on by change.
Education opportunities
Employees react to change in a variety of ways, including how they exhibit fatigue from change saturation. It’s therefore crucial to create the opportunities to educate the workforce and their leaders on symptoms, determinants and the impact of change fatigue.
While some symptoms or signals like stress and burnout can be more evident, other indicators may remain hidden. For example, employees can slowly disengage with their organisation and show less commitment to walk an extra mile in their work role. This is echoed in Gartner’s report which reveals that once change fatigue sets in, 17% of employees contribute less to their organisations.
But there is support available. For example, I deliver a module on employee engagement and change as part of the Help to Grow: Management Course at the University of Brighton. Here, business leaders from a wide range of different sectors learn how to embrace change and discover new ways of creating momentum for change to their advantage. Through peer-to-peer learning, expert guidance and mentoring, leaders are gaining knowledge and skills needed to create change readiness within their organisations and gaining confidence to implement better change strategies that will lead to growth.
Overcoming negative consequences of transformational changes
While it’s important to spot the signs of change fatigue, and ask for support when needed, the ultimate goal must be to mitigate any further damage it could do to a company’s workforce.
Actively working to avoid change saturation is the key but in scenarios where it becomes impossible to avoid change fatigue, it is imperative to diagnose the situation as early as possible. This will prevent long-term negative impacts on individuals, teams, projects and other relevant stakeholders.
An important step in this direction is to understand and appreciate the emotional impact of change on employees. It’s crucial to understand if introducing a change triggers sadness, depression, anger or anxiety in employees and if experience of these negative emotions are adding to an employee’s fatigue. By doing this, managers demonstrate empathetic sensitivity to employees concerns and thereby act in compassionate ways to devise plans tailored to each employee’s needs.
Another factor that is paramount in overcoming negative consequences of transformational changes is the transparent approach of senior leaders and management. Employees kept in the dark during repeated transformations can feel disempowered and sceptical to appreciating the value addition of the change. However, clearly articulating the change strategy, and then breaking down the planned change exercise into discrete phases, may help employees to better make sense of things.
Fending off future fatigue
Given the pressures of doing business today, change saturation and fatigue may seem inevitable, but developing the right capabilities can help businesses head off problems before they start.
While change communication is important, so is its timing. It is important to recognise that the impact of organisational change can sometimes be gauged only after a while. Announcements of big changes may come months or weeks before people begin to feel the effects on their daily working experiences, and these ripples can take the biggest toll.
That’s why businesses need to develop and integrate preventative measures as part of their change planning strategy. An organisation’s culture and climate play an important part in this. Businesses implementing preventive measures simply as a lip service often fail to engage employees and gain their trust during organisational transformations. It is vital that employers and business leaders visualise these measures as not just as a tick box exercise but as an opportunity to enhance employee wellbeing during change.
While the world of business has made considerable progress in championing employee wellbeing, in many sectors, there are still some negative attitudes around taking wellbeing leave, flexible working and proactive rest. It is vital that leaders walk the talk and create a healthy workplace environment for people to manage any symptoms of fatigue in a constructive manner.
Leading organisational change
While it is crucial for business leaders and managers to understand the three elements of managing fatigue, often an individual’s response and their coping strategy depend on how change is led within an organisation.
A recent example of this was during the COVID-19 pandemic when industries such as hospitality and tourism were reeling under pressures to downsize. Many small and large organisations had to make difficult decisions around staff redundancies. However, AirBnB, under the leadership of Brian Chesky, became a classic case study on how to deliver tough messages in transparent and compassionate manner.
I always encourage business leaders to reflect on their leadership style. In the context of change leadership, it is important that leaders actively discover how they can positively influence employees’ reactions to change by becoming more aware and attuned to their emotional cycles. This comes down to furthering knowledge around the support employees need at different phases of their emotional cycles of change, something I believe the Help to Grow: Management Course delivers well.
Course participants are given real-life case studies and examples of how change fatigue can negatively impact their workforce. Having worked through a variety of scenarios, business leaders are better equipped to anticipate challenges applicable in the context of their own businesses and devise a plan that ensures change happens as smoothly as possible.
Any time an organisation embarks on a change initiative, it’s important for people in power positions to build interpersonal and institutional trust. While there cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach, there is robust evidence that successful change can be achieved through actively listening to employees, creating clear and persuasive communication and taking necessary steps to reduce the risk of change fatigue in the workplace.