Why most changes fail in an organization

Why most changes fail in an organization
It is well known that a big percentage of all major changes in organizations all over the world, fail. Some say the figure is as high as 70 to 80 percent.
Those are serious statistics.
I have just done a search on Amazon.com for change management and there are 13,366 books addressing the issue.
Change has been a big subject in the world of management for quite some time. Besides all the books written, consulting companies have created change management practices and boutique firms have sprung up just to deal with change.
It is difficult to imagine a manager in any company who has not taken part in some change management training, coaching session or told to read some change management books.
Almost at the end of 2010 it would be natural for you to think that we must be very good at implementing change in organizations.
The fact is we are not. Not in large, medium or small companies, in government departments or even in sports teams.
Why? Why is change so difficult to achieve?
I have worked with many executives and companies throughout my career on how to lead change. And I find that most people know what it takes to plan and implement change in their companies but that knowledge doesn't translate into action.
Something gets in the way of converting all that information or knowledge of change into effective action steps. Jeff Pfeffer, a specialist on change and author of several books coined the term “the knowing-doing gap” to describe the enormous gap between what managers know and what they actually implement on the job.
This my friends, is a very costly gap and things might be getting worse. Most higher level executives you ask say that there is a growing discrepancy between expecting change and being able to create, implement or manage it.
With each failed initiative, cynicism builds making the next try even harder to sell. And each failure means failed opportunities and false beginnings with a lot of time and resources going into trying to manage resistance and indifference something that many organizations can’t afford, especially in a difficult economic environment.
In this article we can review three reasons why change initiatives fail:
1. Managers assume that understanding change and what needs to be done will automatically bring on support and commitment. I get a kick when I interview managers and they tell me that the power point presentation about the change initiative was very good and they are certain that employees understood it.
They don’t understand that people will only make or ask “safe” questions and that all the reservations and fears that they have, will go underground and will be discussed in hallways or in the lunch room.
Failure to make a compelling case for change and to communicate it in an effective way is one of the biggest reasons why the change effort will fail or will be derailed.
2. Miscalculate the tremendous power of employee and management commitment.
Most changes in companies are forced on people. Management and employees are told that things are tough, that the company is losing money or that there are opportunities that must be seized immediately or they will disappear. They are commanded on what to do to meet this challenge, when it will begin, what are the goals and what is expected of them. This of course doesn’t work because the managers and staff weren’t involved in the plans or ideas that need to be implemented. They don’t feel like they are part of the solution. The people that will implement change must be involved from the beginning.
The Gallup organization did a study and found that in average organizations the ratio of engaged to actively disengaged employees is 1.5 to 1. In world class companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft etc. the ratio of engaged to actively disengaged employees is about 8 to 1. Actively disengaged employees, those that don’t row or even row against, grind down an enterprise’s bottom line while sucking away the motivation and positive attitude of employees in the process. This will cost companies billions of dollars in lost productivity. You might one to ask yourself the question: What is the ration of engaged versus disengaged employees in my company?
3. Fail to understand the power of fear.
Fear of change is a personal matter. We all have different personalities and there are people that can accept change and even welcome it and there are others that go through a tough time facing change. People worry that they will lose their jobs or that their careers will be derailed.
This personal fear can defeat the organization’s need to change. When people are afraid, their understanding or ability to absorb information goes down dramatically. In other words, they can’t even hear what we are talking about even if they want to.
If they are not only afraid but also lack trust it gets even worse. It is very clear that if people don’t trust their managers, why will they follow them. The answer is that most won’t.
It is important to understand that with a rapidly changing economy, in fact, with a rapidly changing world companies need to change or they will perish.
If you communicate the change effort in an effective manner, if you clearly explain the need for change, the present circumstances and you involve everyone on the change effort, your chances will increase.
You must understand that it won’t be easy, you must know the personalities of the people involved and you must commit to the change effort one hundred per cent.
Failure to do this will be another setback and the next initiative will be met with even more resistance.