Change without changing?

Change is inevitable. Change is imperative. Change is permanent. Change is imminent. These are every day echoes. Companies talk about how change is the key driver of growth. Managers make plans to develop teams that embrace change.

Leaders develop strategies for disrupting industries to become change leaders. With so much being said and done in this area, why do we see very few companies succeeding in creating change receptive cultures? With so many change programmes, why do 70 percent of change initiatives fail? With more examples of failure of companies related to failing to change, it would seem logical that change receptivity would have increased.

Surprisingly, no. On the contrary, it has actually decreased. According to Gartner study in 2016, 74 percent of employees were willing to offer change management support. By 2022, the percentage dropped to just 38 percent, highlighting a significant decline in employee willingness to engage in change management support. This shows high distrust in change management programmes. Meanwhile, the speed of change is increasing. Meanwhile, the scale of change is becoming global. Meanwhile, the need to change is ever more.

There is a serious mismatch between the need to change and the practice of change. This disconnect has caused titanic shocks in the industries. This disconnect has caused economic disasters. This disconnect has created leadership and management failures. Investing in change management programmes is still more of a buzzword than a strategic priority. A holistic and proactive change management programme requires budgetary allocations. Management mindsets still think of these allocations as a high cost.

There is no consideration to the cost of not changing. Organizations, no matter how big, how successful and how resourceful, crash when the change lever fails. We have examples of Nokia and Blackberry and many other giants who had all the above except the much-needed change mindset. Let us look at why change despite being the most accepted phenomenon to happen is unwelcome:

1. The ‘Yes but No’ barrier— While employees are generally willing and capable of adapting to change, only 26 percent successfully implement change management in practice. They are either not fully aware, or fully convinced, or fully equipped to deal with the changes. A classic example is the disruption of AI in companies.

Most companies are talking about it. Many companies are studying how to use this technology. Some companies are already using it partly. When you talk to their employees, they all agree AI is inevitable. However, when, how, what are still not clear to them. This lack of clarity results in reluctance that can easily turn into resistance if not handled strategically and systemically.

2. The age myth— Our general perception is that the older you are, the more resistant to change. Maybe in certain areas. But generally it is the opposite. According to Oak Engage study 2023, younger employees show the highest resistance to change, with reluctance decreasing with age. Employees aged 16 to 24 are the most resistant, followed by 41 percent of those aged 25 to 34 and 36 percent of those aged 35 to 44.

Resistance drops to 29 percent among employees aged 45 to 54 and 28 percent among those 55 and older. This may be due to the newer generation refusing to follow top-down change policies. Generation Z, if not engaged or included, will be much more resistant than the older generation who are used to hand me down policies and programmes.

3. The change narrative— Most change brings discomfort. Most change brings uncertainty. Most change brings fear. That means that every word said by their managers and leaders is evoking a response, either for or against change. Top management spends a lot of money on awareness and education, but are the people top to bottom trained to inspire change? Is it just a short gun approach where you simply give a choice to people to “either change or be changed”? The communication strategy may be well thought out and developed.

Has the strategy been converted into a narrative for different levels and departments to be able to engage and convert people? These are the questions that organizations need to ask. Without a simple, doable, narrative, change could mean a hundred different things to a hundred different people, creating a communication disruption and distortion.

That is why change can never simply be an add-on. It can never be an after-thought. It has to be an integral part of the organization growth just like sales and financial strategies. What needs to be done is:

1. It has to be ‘everybody up approach’— Some say change has to start from the top. Others talk about the bottom-up approach. Whichever way, it has to involve everybody. Fear and uncertainty are direct results of non-involvement. Just imagine the organization’s new drive of lean management being announced by the manager in your department as “the organization has decided to cut down. …” It is not hard to imagine the reaction of employees that will range from being disturbed to depressed.

Now just imagine the manager coming in and saying, “we need to make our department smarter and leaner, I want some ideas from my brilliant team on how to do that”. You can just imagine how after a slow start everybody will start pitching in, and a collective decision made by the team on the steps to be taken. This will have a much higher chance of being owned and implemented.

2. Develop change help lines and support— Some people may not voice out in teams. For individuals to have this comfort that their worries will be addressed, develop change counsellors who are available online to address issues. Also, a change mentoring system can be introduced, where peer change enablers help their colleagues to help adjust and adapt.

3. Measure, review and adjust— Constantly measure the impact of the change programme. Evaluate how many change leaders have emerged. Identify the blockers, the slow starters, the laggards. Constantly review your narratives. See which department’s narratives have worked. Take them, adapt them, train managers, supervisors, counsellors to use them. Keep tracking success and failure.

This many seem a lot of money and time. But calculate your losses of not changing. Then compare the cost of change and the cost of not changing. According to a WTW report, 2023, organizations that align operating model changes with effective change management are 50 percent more likely to achieve long-term growth opportunities. Would you rather be a case study of Nokia or iPhone? Any vision, any dream, any goal is only possible with change. As Max De Pree famously said, “We cannot become what we want to by remaining what we are”.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025