Getting Smart About Change Management

According to a survey by BCG, the proportion of enterprises that have adopted a methodic approach to change management has increased from 32% in 2003 to 80% in 2013. Without much impact, it seems, on the success rate of large-scale change programs. It stagnates at around 50%, according to business executives themselves. The authors of this article explain that these programs generally share one shortcoming: they mostly tend to convince the staff members of the need for transformation and then to train them. But few focus on transforming the environment in which the employees operate. Yet, it is this environment that determines whether the staff have both the desire and the resources to adopt new behaviors. Without this, we cannot hope for significant and sustainable improvements.