There is a lot of change about for organisations, and it feels like changes are speeding up. We may have got used to multiple overlapping individual, team and organisational changes, like a new job, new colleagues, new technology, new ways of working or new locations. But it is the pressures bearing down from the external operating environment that is making it such a worrying time for all of us as workers, citizens and residents and what’s keeping our leaders awake at night. Take your pick from Artificial Intelligence, Ukraine, tariffs, cost of living, aging workforce, productivity and fears about redundancy to name but a few. Is your organisation responding effectively to the current political complexity and financial uncertainty? A recent IPA Employee Hub event explored how to become a change-smart organisation, ready to address a collective capability for change in a complex operating environment. So, what did we discuss?
Firstly, consider how highly your organisation scores in your attitude surveys for ‘managing change well’? Does it respond effectively to expected and unexpected change? If so, very well done as most struggle to act swiftly consistently and reliably in response to in an increasingly complex and unpredictable operating environment. The failure rate of organisational change has remained constant over the last 40 years suggesting organisations have not been learning from past mistakes. A history of not “doing change” very well can be an organisational albatross.
It is all too easy for individuals to feel change is being foisted on them and suffer “change fatigue” at the thought of yet more changes.
Secondly we heard about an Institute for Employment Studies and Henley Forum action research project conducted in collaboration with 11 employers across back in 2018/19 which has resonance today. The research aimed to improve the employers’ ability to ‘do change better.’ The focus was on teams. In theory, all organisations know that they should have change-ready and change-capable teams if they are to remain dynamic and thrive. In practice what constitutes readiness and capability may not be clear cut at all to the teams themselves and their wider organisations. Through an evidence-based survey with 228 team members responding from 9 teams across 5 large organisations in four countries, plus follow-up interviews, the project sought to uncover what helps and what hinders their teams becoming more able for change. The study found what helps teams in times of change is:
- sense of communityship within the team and between their team and others
- some knowledge of change and confidence in the team’s collective ability to self-manage through change
- positive experience of previous change (or a belief that lessons were learned).
The study also found that what teams do for themselves in support of each other was a powerful enabler of individual and collective well-being. A set of change tools for teams were co-developed as part of the project which were thoroughly tested by participating employers during 2019/20 and implemented in a range of contexts with other employers ever since.
Feedback from employers consistently reinforces that making the human aspects of change, rather than the organisational impacts, a particular target for attention is crucial to success of change initiatives.
Thirdly, we discussed what practical insights have we learned or ideas we can adopt to help ourselves, our colleagues and our employers becoming more change smart. This included:
- Listening – collect feedback and reflections from teams on the previous change so lessons can be learned from what worked well or not so well.
- Visioning – offer a compelling vision explaining why the future changed state will be better than the status quo for both customers and staff. Focus the vision at an emotional level: it is not sufficient to describe change only in terms of its rationality.
- Embracing the grit in the oyster – do not silence those who express doubts early in the change process. Let these contributors identify the pitfalls to be avoided.
- Reframing – enable teams to reframe the purpose to something that makes sense to them and their context.
Reflections and comments from Hub attendees included: The importance of obtaining the colleague voice before a change; Creating a sense of choice; Providing a consistent narrative; Change fatigue is real; Similar reflective process would be useful in helping people think about statutory consultations; In the context of stagnant employee engagement, we need to remember lack of trust gets in the way of change; Unions have a key role to play; Not all change is good or done well so we need to embrace the naysayers; We all have a moral responsibility to support colleagues; and that learning organisations must take the time to learn lessons.
Final thought is that organisations need to prioritise these human aspects of change to improve change-capability: both having adaptable, responsive teams and a longer-term ability to anticipate when change is needed and, when necessary, to carry it out.
Dr Alison Carter is a principal research fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies (IES). She speaks and consults on a range of HR, change and leadership development issues. Her current research includes support for workers with caring responsibilities but it is her evaluation of workplace coaching for which she is recognised as an international expert.
June 2025