Disruption is now constant across every industry, with the pace of change accelerating. It has been said that in the next 10 years we will see more change than we’ve seen in the last 100 years.
In the past, organizations typically contracted Change Management services for organizational changes that were few and far between. Today, organizations have numerous change initiatives happening at the same time or launching back-to-back that require increased management and employee support, and overall prioritization and alignment with the organization’s strategic goals.
Because of the volume of change initiatives many organizations are seeing the financial benefit of building internal expertise that would have traditionally been provided by external consultants. In addition to project management, and process improvement, organizations are now looking to expand their internal capabilities and capacity related to change management.
The Role of Change Management
Traditionally a change management expert was a resource brought into projects to discover the change impacts, and manage communication, training, or resistance throughout the disruption of implementation. We now have decades of research and lessons learned that tell a compelling story; there is more to do to be successful with change.
An effective change manager will quickly grasp an organization’s current culture and readiness for change while identifying how the new initiatives will impact people and their leaders. They work with the business’s leaders at the outset of a project, understand and align on the motivation for change, assess the capability of people to be successful in the future, and predict and mitigate risk related to the adoption and sustainability of new practices.
The Role of Enterprise Change Management
Organizations embarking on significant and ongoing change are adopting a common approach to managing and executing initiatives across all lines of business. This approach is called Enterprise Change Management (ECM) and supports the overall adoption of change while increasing the likelihood of obtaining benefits sooner and sustaining change over the long term.
Often organizations will establish a formal structure or change management practice as the focal point for governing, structuring, and implementing all change initiatives, ensuring the application of consistent methodology and performance metrics.
Implementing enterprise change management means adopting the principles, standards, and best practices of change management and applying those to regular daily operations. Doing more change management on projects does not achieve the status or benefits of enterprise change management. It must become a capability through all roles, become a new and natural way of working, and be ingrained in the culture.
The greatest benefits and efficiencies will be gained when ECM is integrated into key processes and functions and becomes a key factor in business strategy and operational planning. Once ECM is fully integrated within the organization, other formal methodologies such as project management, business analysis, and process improvement are prioritizing the change management elements related to their roles within their timelines and activities. They are leveraging change managers on projects to enhance their success when areas of risk have identified the need for additional support.
Other key areas within the organization such as human resources, communications, and training are also aligned and support the overall enterprise change approach adopted by the organization.
Why Enterprise Change Management?
- Change is managed more effectively and efficiently, and avoids the costs of delays, duplication, and rework
- Faster speed of adoption, utilization, and a greater level of proficiency drive higher ROI
- Employees are empowered and tooled to transition to new ways of work while maintaining and building overall morale and culture
- Builds individual and organizational resiliency and capacity to handle frequent change
- Through increased agility and resilience, financial and strategic performance improves through more successful change implementations and achievement of the benefits
- Organizations gain internal competencies to support significant change with fewer external resources required
Mariner’s change practitioners will work with your internal leaders to establish your enterprise change management office (CMO) or program. Let’s talk!