Five attributes of people-centric, outcome-driven change management

How do organizations navigate fast-paced, complex, and ongoing change while, at the same time, mitigate risks and drive business outcomes across their enterprise? Adapting work habits, transforming processes, and improving performance through change management is key, but also a major hurdle. For example, more than half of the business and technology executives we interviewed as part of our latest CGI Voice of Our Clients research cite change management as their top constraint to achieving their organization’s business priorities.

Despite the challenges of change management, in today’s increasingly dynamic business world, the question is no longer if you need professional change management, but how will you approach it strategically. In the past 20 years, especially in the last 10 years, I’ve recognized an accelerating interest in change management at the C-level. For example, some of my clients have added change management responsibilities at the senior and executive levels—whether as part of the chief human resources officer role, for example, or perhaps through chief transformation officer or chief change officer roles—making change management a strategic driver.

Integrating and leveraging change management from day one of an endeavor, being aware of human-centered risks, and analyzing human-centered impact from the strategy development and planning stage is a game changer for projects and programs, reducing risks and increasing performance.

A lack of investment in change management can be costly and a contributor to failed projects. On the upside, however, Prosci reports that projects with excellent change management programs are six times more likely to achieve expected business goals than those with poor or no change management.

Attributes of people-centric, value-driven change management

Induced by megatrends, as well as by small shifts, change impacts organizations, leading to new roles, responsibilities, and work behaviors.  In my opinion, organizations face three key questions:

1. How can they secure the buy-in, adoption, and engagement of their professionals?
2. How can the affected stakeholders be lead throughout the change? and
3. How can they adapt their organizational model and processes and measure their change effectiveness to ensure true value?

Discussing these questions at an early stage is imperative. By addressing these questions in a meaningful way, a holistic understanding and a solid change management approach is inevitable. In my experience, five key pillars are most relevant.

• Purposeful vision: The transformation’s vision has a clear purpose that is communicated openly, clearly, and frequently with stakeholders.
• Empathetic change leadership: Change leaders are motivated by empathy and invest in active listening, empowerment, role modeling, and influence.
• Sound strategy and alignment: A holistic assessment of the organization’s culture, impact chains, and human-centered risks drives the change strategy and ensures enterprise-wide alignment.
• Iterative implementation: The organization acts iteratively and then adjusts its strategies and actions, as necessary, at optimum speed.
• Qualitative and quantitative metrics: Change management progress, benefit realization, and adoption are measured consistently and accurately.

In working with clients across industries and across the globe for several decades, I have learned that, with these pillars, any organization in any industry can implement a sustainable change management approach. Such an approach will advance the transformation's legitimacy, accessibility, and attractiveness while also becoming embedded within the organization’s DNA. Further, this type of approach will drive meaningful change management, regardless of the type or size of the change initiative, the stakeholders involved, or the complexities faced. Ultimately, it leads to people-centric, value-driven change management that reduces risks, delivers expected outcomes, and improves people, processes, and performance.

Aligning change management capabilities

The capabilities required for an effective approach depend on the type of transformation your organization is pursuing. Common transformations and their corresponding capabilities include the following:

• End-to-end transformation: If your organization is undergoing a large and/or complex transformation involving, for example, many employees, multiple countries/departments/cultures, and/or external stakeholders (e.g., partners, vendors, customers, suppliers, etc.), choose a change management approach with the capabilities to manage change strategy development, execution, and adoption from end to end.
• Cultural integration: Strategic change management provides a robust cultural integration roadmap. This roadmap enables the organization and stakeholders to adapt and merge practices, habits, and principles, without sacrificing core values and beliefs. A strategically managed roadmap and commitment fostered through training, appreciation, and communication ensure a smooth cultural integration (e.g., in post-merger integrations or in the transition to managed services).
• Novel technologies/methods adoption: Novel or complex transformations require a change management approach designed specifically to manage unique impacts and increased risks. Examples include transformations involving artificial intelligence, robotic process automation, cloud migration, data-driven business model implementation, ESG, and new compliance requirements.
• Work design and talent management: Every transformation impacts your organization’s way of working. As a result, finding a change management approach that supports the development and adoption of a future of work roadmap, while fostering a culture of belonging and driving long-term employee retention is crucial.

For any transformation, invest in a change management approach that offers a range of change accelerators. Accelerator examples include culture and change strategy development, culture blueprint development, Change Management Office setup, post-change adoption assessment, among others.

Partnering for success

Successful change management requires organizational commitment, change leadership, and “stickiness” (i.e., the change management efforts must be sustainable). While these factors demand internal resources, an outside partner can help, particularly in the case of special change initiatives such as an M&A, a reorganization, the introduction of new technologies such as AI, etc.

Look for a partner with extensive change management experience across industries and geographies, strong change management accreditations, a collaborative, accountable partnership approach, and the ability to deliver not only consulting insights and strategies, but also supporting frameworks, tools, and technologies.

CGI has decades of experience in delivering change management consulting services to clients across industries and around the world. In my role as global leader for CGI’s Change Management business consulting service, it’s exciting for me to see the increasing demand for change management, its positive impact on the performance and success of organizations, and how our work often puts a smile on our clients faces. Feel free to contact me for more information on our work or the insights I’ve shared in this blog.