Why Corporate New Year's Resolutions Don't Last

Why is it that most corporate change programmes fail to achieve their objectives or even survive much beyond implementation (if they get that far)? In the same way that the majority of personal New Year's resolutions don't make it past the end of January, research proves that approximately 70% of change initiatives within organisations fail to make it past the 'great idea' phase.

The time and costs incurred to a business in aborted change programmes is significant, and the detrimental effect on organisational motivation can be felt long after the project was consigned to the waste bin. Organisational development research shows that it's not always that the change programmes lack value, but that they lack five critical elements that keep the implementation team and wider organisation on track. These are good communication, flexible planning, organisational buy-in, learning capture and finally, sustainability.

Good communication

In the majority of change programmes, communications are insufficient, incorrectly targeted and irrelevant to those reading them. Why is the programme important? What is going to happen? Who needs to know? No-one likes to be kept in the dark; people want to know and understand what is happening. It doesn't matter how well or how often you think you are communicating, it's probably not enough. You also need to consider whom you communicate with and through which medium.

Different people prefer different methods of communication. Identify the differing groups of people with whom you wish to communicate to and afford consideration of what will work for them. What is the message they need to hear and what medium and how often should they hear it? It can be written, via email, in person via a town hall meeting, via a video - in fact, practice shows that using a mixture of methods is often the most successful.

Flexible planning

Plans cannot be cast in concrete or they will sink, just as surely as concrete boots in water. Most change programmes impact more than just the people within its initial scope, and may touch many parts of the organisation that was not previously intended. If it's company-wide change you need to consider the larger business community, suppliers, clients and stakeholders, and the impact your programme could have on them?

Most importantly of all, you can guarantee that what was first planned will need to flex and change to meet the unexpected. Flexible planning allows you to monitor your progress and adjust your plans without major programme impact. You will see what you need to 'tweak', which will improve your chances of success.

Organisational buy-in

Change cannot simply be imposed from above without buy-in of those implementing change or those affected by it. To get buy-in, people need to have the freedom to engage with the process and bring their own input. This means that those who are affected by the change should have a say in how it happens. You will have chosen a strategic direction, but allowing people to work with you on how it will be implemented means they are more likely to be motivated and to contribute their enthusiasm and energy towards making the change rather than blocking it.

This may feel risky, but you can reduce the risk by sharing the real business constraints within which the team have to work. Getting people to buy-in doesn't mean giving them a free reign, but, if you are open and honest about what can and cannot be done, then the chances are, people will still buy-in and bring their ideas and enthusiasm with them.

Learning capture

Change processes that are linear, rather than iterative fail to capture and implement the knowledge gained during their implementation. There is no silver bullet model, so it's imperative you monitor where you are and check what needs adjusting as you go. Everything could be going well when the programme hits an obstacle. An iterative process will not stall when this happens, but learn from it, readjust itself and go forward having navigated the issue.

It sounds simple, but, too many change programmes stall at the first major hurdle because the participants feel they are working to a check list that cannot be altered. Enable your team to assess in real-time and they will feel empowered to uncover the blockers to success and beat them.

Sustainability and next steps 

So the change is implemented and you've hit all the targets that define success. This is the point where those leading the change programme give insufficient thought to sustainability and next steps. Frequently they stop feeding in energy and things quickly return to the way they were. You need to ensure that change becomes embedded through repetition to redevelop new 'habits' for several weeks, even months. Questions should be asked of stakeholders on how things are going for them and that learning should be captured and shared.

You need to be sure that the change has solved the issue it was meant to and not given birth to new ones. Has the change solved the issue, or do you need to do more (or different) work on it? Has the issue gone away by itself? Has another issue arisen? A programme that stalls a few months after supposed success may just as well as never been implemented in the first place.

As you begin to understand how to make change successful, the next time you have to implement change, it will be easier, quicker and more effective.

And, as with those New Year's resolutions, the more times a person embarks on change and then fails, the less belief those around them will have the next time a call to change comes along. Too many failed or ineffective change programmes is something a CEO needs to avoid, and whilst it's inevitable that change requires more hard work and resolve than first thought, change leadership is one area that is worth making a long term commitment to.