Latest news with #changeManagement
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
‘Staff need a place they trust': how to instil a workplace culture in a fast-changing world
A workplace culture isn't just about an organisation's stated values – it's also about the processes that make those values tangible. In other words, how stuff gets done. Before today's era of hybrid and flexible working, employees tended to absorb their workplace culture almost by osmosis. 'You'd be living and breathing it five days a week,' says Nish Chowdhury of the marketing agency Oliver. As the agency's global director of people systems and operations, Chowdhury has had to grapple with the dramatic upheaval in working practices of recent years. While the shift started with the global work-from-home experiment that many companies underwent during the Covid pandemic, it has continued apace. 'Covid really put a spanner in the works in terms of how we see company culture,' says Chowdhury. A workplace culture is now harder to absorb, especially for new hires. And it isn't just about people's physical presence: the pace of business and technological change has also accelerated. The constant upheaval makes it that much harder to instil a corporate culture. Employees might find themselves suffering from 'change fatigue' or feel overwhelmed by technology and the numerous apps, platforms and information sources they now have to work with. For some businesses, the questions of culture and change management have grown increasingly intertwined. On top of this, the geopolitical environment is a lot less stable than it used to be, which has fed through into the economy. In such a fluid business environment, company culture is more important than ever. It binds employees together, ensures shared values and goals, and keeps everyone engaged and motivated. So how do you instil a workplace culture in today's fast-changing world – and make it easier for a distributed workforce to acquire? In broad terms, managers now need to make their workplace culture more obvious and intentional. For instance, they can try to articulate the culture more explicitly. This doesn't necessarily have to entail formally codifying every aspect of your workplace culture – there are human ways to do it, such as demonstrating the culture and building processes around it, or publicly recognising employees and actions that best embody it. Managers can also try to express their workplace culture more frequently, and make it more ubiquitous. Technology can help here. Chowdhury highlights how her agency adopted a new HR system that can be configured to reinforce the company's culture. 'We have customised our [HR portal] homepage so employees are exposed to our culture wherever they're logging on from,' she says. 'It might be adding our values or mantras, having hosted videos or branded experiences.' The idea, she explains, is that no matter where you are, you feel connected to the company. 'People are on their phones a lot and so you give them mobile access to the business.' The system used by her agency is Sage People, an HR solution. Steve Watmore, HR and payroll product manager at software company Sage, says these features and personalised experiences can be particularly crucial when companies are onboarding new starters, as it isn't always possible to physically get new hires in for face-to-face time. 'The question becomes: 'How do you create that culture of welcoming people in and starting the kind of conversations that bring teams together?'' he says. However, it's not just about having the right technology: you also need to make it easy to use. One way of doing this is by providing staff with a one-stop shop – a single point of contact – instead of having numerous apps and platforms that result in a very fragmented experience. Lampros Sekliziotis, a product leader at Sage, says having a single self-service portal for employees is key. 'Everything feels easy and smooth. You log on to your phone and you're immersed in the company.' Technology solutions such as Sage People can also help companies improve their workplace culture by breaking down barriers to connecting – for instance, making it easier to synchronise meetings and schedule in-office days. Sekliziotis says that for remote workers you can also emulate some of the feel of a physical workspace. 'You have interactions that would normally happen in the office – so you make them happen in the flow of work.' All this helps to make people feel more part of the business – and it helps the business run as a more cohesive whole. Moreover, the portals can be personalised and tailored to the needs of individual teams, geographies and so on. There are many other benefits. In a world where fake news is rife and can damage company culture and morale, having a single reliable portal that staff can go to for facts is increasingly important. 'You want staff to have a place they trust that they can go to if they need information,' says Chowdhury. However, workplace culture isn't just something that comes from the top down. It's always been a two-way process that is also shaped by employees. This has become increasingly true with social media and digital communication. Traditionally, employees had a chance to give their own views and feedback with annual satisfaction surveys. But once a year is far from ideal in today's world. Tools such as employee pulse surveys – short, quick surveys that are sent to employees on a regular basis – are becoming increasingly important as they allow HR managers to spot changes and issues quickly and take action to maintain employee engagement and satisfaction. Sage People therefore incorporates pulse surveys and other similar features as a built-in function. 'It's about getting real-time feedback from the employees,' says Watmore. He notes that the employee induction process is an example of how useful this can be. 'Maybe at the end of onboarding you can send a survey to the new hires to ask them how the process went. Did you find something that they didn't like?' The next round of new hires can benefit from this feedback. Going forward, more sophisticated data analytics and, increasingly, AI mean that companies will be able to use platforms to generate ever-more useful cultural insights from the information they hold. Thus, the future of company culture is a sophisticated, ongoing tech-enabled conversation that delivers a better workplace for everyone. Discover more about how to instil a workplace culture to your business
Fast Company
07-07-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
Tech is only half the transformation—don't forget the people
You just launched a new platform. The tech is live, the dashboards are humming, and the project milestones are moving along as planned. But three months in, something's off. Adoption is lagging. Teams are skeptical. Progress has stalled. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. In my experience, too many transformation efforts focus on technology and process while overlooking the most critical factor: people. Real, lasting transformation doesn't happen because you install new software. It happens when you empower the humans behind the change. THE CHANGE MANAGEMENT GAP According to McKinsey, 56% of business leaders say their organizations have achieved most or all of their transformation goals. But only 12% have sustained those goals beyond three years. That gap is where change management lives and where most efforts fall short. It's easy to roll out a new tool. It's much harder to unlearn old habits, align cross-functional teams, or win over skeptics. Yet that's where the real opportunity lies for aspiring changemakers. McKinsey also finds that organizations that put people at the center of change are 3.4 times more likely to achieve and sustain performance gains—not because they work harder, but because they work smarter, with intention and empathy. HOW CHANGEMAKERS EMPOWER PEOPLE A powerful example of people-first transformation comes from Air France-KLM, which recently worked with my company to replace multiple legacy content management systems with a single platform across all brands and channels. Throughout the process, the management team recognized that transformation isn't just about technology: • They merged product and content teams from Air France and KLM, using intercultural workshops to build trust and collaboration. • They prioritized user adoption, providing extra training and support for business users less familiar with content management tools. • They communicated openly, maintained clear documentation, and ensured responsive support to manage uncertainty. • They celebrated milestones to reinforce progress and boost morale. • They established a two-way feedback loop with my team at Contentstack, surfacing user pain points and informing platform enhancements. If you want transformation to stick, you need more than a go-live date. You need to empower the people driving the change. Here's how: 1. Align change with purpose. Before introducing any tool or process, tie it to a clear, meaningful business outcome. If your goal is to reduce time-to-market for digital campaigns, show how the new system streamlines publishing across regions or channels. If you're aiming for more personalized customer experiences, connect the dots between composable content and one-to-one engagement. As a changemaker, you need to make that alignment obvious. Draw a straight line from your platform or initiative to a tangible business win. When that connection is clear, it's easier for internal champions to advocate for change and harder for detractors to push back. 2. Activate champions. Find internal collaborators early—people who speak their colleagues' language, model new behaviors, and provide honest feedback. The best way to activate champions? Show how the change solves their specific challenges. Their pain points often reflect broader organizational needs; when people see their frustrations addressed, they become advocates. And don't forget: vendors have champions, too—customer success managers, solution architects, and industry thought leaders who can amplify learning and momentum across organizations. 3. Tackle resistance with empathy. Resistance is natural when people are asked to leave familiar ways of working behind. Instead of pushing harder, get curious about what's behind the hesitation. At Levi's (another client of Contentstack), when the digital team proposed eliminating PDF mockups in favor of live previews, creatives initially balked; PDFs were central to their workflow. By making the change optional at first, they gave people space to adapt. Over time, creatives embraced the new process because they saw its value. As a changemaker (or tech provider), recognize that you may be seen as a disruptor (or outsider). Listen closely, adapt, and co-create with your stakeholders. When you acknowledge concerns and show flexibility, resistance becomes a catalyst for trust. 4. Enable teams for ongoing success. Modern transformation requires clearly defined roles, skill development, and ongoing support. Ask yourself: Are the right people in the right seats with the tools they need to succeed? Sometimes, enablement means unblocking; sometimes, it means rallying; sometimes, it means getting out of the way. Tech partners can play a critical role here—through AI Accelerators, customer conferences, peer communities, and other shared learning opportunities that help people and teams grow into modern heroes. VENDORS WON'T SURVIVE—PARTNERS WILL True partners earn trust when things get messy—when resistance surfaces or priorities shift—and stay present long after go live. If you're not guiding your customers through the human side of transformation, you're becoming replaceable. Transformation isn't just about new tools. It's about new ways of working and leading. That kind of change demands changemakers who champion people first—and partners who walk alongside them every step of the way.
Entrepreneur
03-07-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Most Change Efforts Fail. Here's How to Make Yours Stick.
You have a great deal of influence over how you and your team navigate through change initiatives. Coaching methodologies can support change management success. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. It's commonly cited by now that in the modern workplace, as much as 70% of change initiatives fall short. And yet, we are facing more rapid change in the workplace than ever before, and entrepreneurs in particular face a unique set of challenges amid these upheavals. You may very well feel fatigued from it all — and surely your team does, too! Personally, to think that our efforts to adapt to these changes are likely to fall short makes me even more jaded. But change is more than a hassle, and can even bring a lot of good with it — it keeps a business adapting to the shifts in the broader world, brings in new tools and helps to advance talent development and retention. Fortunately, as an entrepreneur, you have a great deal of influence over how you and your team navigate through change initiatives, and there are proven methodologies that can support change management success. In particular, my team at the International Coaching Federation (ICF) has worked in close collaboration with the Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP) to develop a change management model that integrates coaching into the process. Related: 3 Keys to Successful Change Management As the leader of a global organization who works with coaches and has undergone coach training myself, here are the key factors I have seen that support change management success, built upon a coach approach and informed by ICF's 30 years of defining the profession's best practices: 1. Set a foundation of inclusivity As the leader, it is not your job to have all the answers, only to facilitate your team in finding them. So as challenges and needs for change arise, actively engage your employees in the problem-solving and change-planning processes. This might take place through meetings, information conversations, focus groups, advisory panels, surveys or other methods. Doing so will address existing and potential resistance. It will also provide a space to explore any concerns associated with the change and how those potential challenges can be mitigated. Not only are team members more likely to support a change initiative when they feel their voice has been heard, but also, solutions that take the full team's roles, needs and perspectives into consideration are much more likely to be effective. Related: Here's How a Lack of Inclusivity Can Create a Toxic Culture 2. Invest in building trust Trust between the leader and team is crucial for the change to be received well. Our brains are wired to seek stability in everything. This involves acknowledging concerns, being transparent and fostering an environment where employees feel safe. Actively listening and seeking feedback also demonstrates that you have a genuine interest in your employees, helping to build a rapport and relationship between leader and team. But note: This investment in building trust must be made as a matter of routine, during calmer times, so that it is already fortified when it undergoes the stress test of change management. 3. Be clear about goals It just makes sense: When implementing a new change management initiative, you will get the best results by being clear and specific in your communications to your team, so they understand why this effort is important and what you hope the outcome will be. Take the time to discuss the rationale behind the change and how it will benefit the team and the organization overall. Share information candidly, even when it's not good news. Admit your faults and be upfront about challenges. When you can all come together with transparency, you are all in a better position to problem-solve to reach the initiative's goals. Good communication also prevents gossip, speculation and misunderstandings that can create a divide between members of the team who view a specific change and its impacts differently. As the change initiative is underway, don't forget to share updates and adjustments made to the plan so that everyone still feels included. Related: The Most Successful Founders Take Retreats — Here's Why You Should, Too 4. Monitor and evaluate Track progress and frequently assess the effectiveness of change management initiatives. Change management plans can, well, change, so allow for deviation and continuous improvement. If something isn't working, reassess and adapt. After implementation, conduct a comprehensive review of the change initiative to calculate its success and identify areas for improvement. A coach approach will fortify your change management results Change can be continuous and inevitable, especially in startups. But it can also breed challenges such as personal resistance to change, poor communication and a breakdown of trust between leader and team. With these pillars, entrepreneurs can prioritize strong change management processes to mitigate these risks. Coaching for the leader can also foster a positive and thoughtful approach to change management. Include your team and stakeholders in the change management initiative. Candidly communicate the rationale and process behind the change. Build trust among your team. Doing so will guide your employees through these transitions, minimize disruption and maximize success. Change can be hard, but manage it well, and it will all be worth it in the end.
Forbes
30-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Data Storytelling: When Your Best Insights Meet Stubborn Minds
Even the most compelling insights can face resistance when they challenge existing perspectives. Data storytelling and change often go hand-in-hand. When you uncover a meaningful insight, your organization must introduce changes to address the identified problem or seize the unearthed opportunity ('do more of this' or 'less of that'). Change can be difficult even when it's the right decision for the business. Our natural reaction is to question or resist new information, not embrace it. We believe the red carpet will be rolled out to celebrate each discovery, but they're more likely greeted with caution and skepticism. How you communicate your insights is as critical as the analysis itself. Early in my career, I learned a valuable lesson about resistance. For a marketing project I was leading, a more senior team member within my department generated a lot of pushback against my approach. It felt as though he was hellbent on ensuring the project was a failure. After a couple of painful weeks of disagreement and stonewalling, I was becoming increasingly frustrated and worried about the project's approaching deadline. I decided to lay my ego aside and try a different tactic. Rather than demanding that he comply with my requests, I invited his advice on the project and discussed what I was trying to achieve. My less threatening and more collaborative approach worked. I was able to better understand his perspective about the project and find middle ground that would address his concerns and allow it to move forward. This experience taught me the importance of tailoring information to different situations and audiences. While we like to think the inherent value of our insights will ensure their adoption, workplace dynamics quickly teach us that how we share matters as much (if not more) than what you share. When it comes to data storytelling, you'll face many different forms of resistance, all which will demand slightly different strategies. In this article, I'll provide you with a roadmap for handling some of the most common forms of resistance. Replacing existing narratives with new, better ones Uncovering an insight means surfacing information that challenges people's existing understanding, forcing them to re-examine their assumptions. When you share the insight, you're not simply swapping out an outdated piece of information and inserting a new one in a plug-and-play manner. As author Shawn Callahan noted, 'You can't beat a good story with a fact; you can only beat it with a better story.' The human brain makes sense of the world through narratives, which act as mental shortcuts that help us process and organize information into meaning. The pre-existing facts and assumptions that shaped the previous understanding must be rewired or rebuilt to support the new insight. That's why storytelling is so essential because facts alone are incomplete. For each topic, your audience may have a shared or personal perspective or 'narrative' in their heads that is shaped by a mix of emotional, cognitive, and social factors: Each viewpoint is shaped by two dimensions: how well-formed the perspective is and how strongly held it is. A well-formed viewpoint will be backed by reasoning and data (even if it is inaccurate or outdated). A strongly-held one will be tied to someone's ego, reputation or identity. A well-formed, strongly held perspective will be the most resistant to change. A framework for navigating different types of audience resistance in data storytelling While stakeholders will welcome new opportunities or possibilities as good news, they may be wary of negative news that indicates problems or risks. However, it's not that simple. Stakeholders could embrace bad news if the insight leads to a better positive outcome such as improved business performance or greater cost savings. How receptive your audience will be influenced by their existing perspective, how well the insight aligns with their expectations, and whether they believe the outcome is actionable and worth the effort to change course. Even an uncomfortable truth can gain traction if it's framed within a compelling path forward. How you frame the story for an insight may be completely different from one audience to another. To help navigate these dynamics, I've developed the Narrative Tension Matrix that maps how facts interact with stakeholder perspectives. Understanding how your audience sees the current situation is critical: When there's alignment between the facts and their perspective, your story will likely reinforce their existing mindset. But when there's a disconnect, you may face resistance, especially if the numbers challenge their assumptions or expectations. Recognizing this tension allows you to tailor your story more effectively. You can frame insights in ways that reduce friction, build clarity, and drive buy-in and action. Let's take a closer look at the six scenarios of this model: Same data, different situations. Different reactions, different stories. This matrix reveals how the ... More tension between facts and perspective shapes your data narrative. In each of the following two scenarios, the facts align with your audiences' prevailing perspective. They may be surprised by details of the insight, but not by the overall direction. 1. Bitter Pill - 'The bad news you feared.'(Facts support / Perspective unfavorable) Stakeholders suspected something was wrong, and the data confirms their fears. Your objective is to drive urgency while acknowledging the challenges or difficulty involved. Tone: Direct, empathetic, respectful. Pro Tip: Quantify the cost of inaction to frame the significance and urgency. 2. Victory Lap - 'The good news you expected.'(Facts support / Perspective favorable) Audience believed things were going well, and the data confirms it. Your goal is to win over any remaining skeptics and build momentum for continued Confident, affirming, energizing. Pro Tip: Use forecasts or projections to build excitement. In these next four scenarios, the facts conflict with perspective, but that conflict could either expose an unexpected problem or uncover a surprising opportunity. 3. Gut Punch - 'It's worse than we thought.'(Facts conflict negatively / Perspective unfavorable) Stakeholders assumed the situation was bad, but the data indicates it's worse than expected. Your goal is to create clarity and courage in the face of difficult truths. Tone: Calm, confident, and resolute. Pro Tip: Focus on small, achievable next steps to avoid feeling overwhelmed or defeated. 4. Silver Lining - 'Not as bad as we feared.'(Facts conflict positively / Perspective unfavorable) People assumed things were bad, but the data reveals it's not as bad as they thought. Your objective is to reframe the pessimism and inspire hope. Tone: Reassuring, grounded, constructive. Pro Tip: Give them permission to be cautiously optimistic. Acknowledge their wariness was reasonable given the information they had. 5. Balloon Pop - 'Optimism, meet reality.'(Facts conflict negatively / Perspective favorable) People are optimistic about the current state, but the data contradicts that belief. Your goal is to gently challenge the false expectations and reframe them in terms of what's more realistic. Tone: Diplomatic, respectful, cautionary. Pro Tip: Start with shared aspirations and then introduce conflicting facts carefully. Try to preserve dignity (save face) since the optimism was publicly held. 6. Gold Mine - 'It's better than we thought.'(Facts conflict positively / Perspective favorable) Audience thought things were going well, but they are even better than they realized. Your objective is to address potential disbelief or skepticism that could impede adoption. Tone: Uplifting, enthusiastic, confident. Pro Tip: Quantify the unexpected gain and be prepared to defend your calculations and methodology. Three key takeaways from this framework When we step back from the data, this framework reveals effective data storytelling is often about managing the audience's emotional journey from their current mindset to a new reality. Unexpected positive results (Gold Mine) may trigger more skepticism and resistance than expected negative ones (Bitter Pill). People may react more strongly to data that makes them feel bad than to data that simply makes them look bad. Here are three key takeaways from this framework: Author and poet Maya Angelou once observed, 'People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.' This wisdom applies perfectly to data storytelling. Your insights might be highly transformative, but if you make your audience feel defensive, surprised, or unprepared, they'll resist even the most compelling evidence. If you can master this emotional journey with your communication, even your most challenging insights become catalysts for meaningful change.
Forbes
26-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Control What You Can: A Blueprint For Thriving As A Legacy Company
Scott Murphy, President and Chief Executive Officer, Jewelers Mutual®. While tradition and heritage are valuable assets for legacy companies, they can sometimes create a false sense of security in the face of rapid change. Technological change and evolving customer expectations are irresistible forces that, if you are not careful, can easily overwhelm your company's infrastructure in a matter of months. If you lead an established company, you likely already feel the strain between preserving what works and staying relevant. I have experienced this firsthand at my company, which has more than 100 years of history, and I have learned that staying still is not an option. Our transformation has included digitizing core processes, acquiring new businesses, and reimagining how we support customers and partners across our industry. These are all tried and true practices, but what makes them effective strategies in managing change is how you execute them: with a proactive approach and a belief that change can help you maximize your success instead of toppling it. Creating A Blueprint For Change-Management Here are four actionable strategies I recommend to other legacy business leaders looking to drive growth while honoring their company's roots: Resistance to change is often your biggest internal threat. I have found that success in overcoming it starts with how you communicate change. For example, our company began tying every change initiative to a customer outcome and ensured all levels of leadership could clearly explain the "why" behind the initiative. We also made it a habit to involve employees early through ideation sessions and to provide regular updates. Celebrate your progress often, even small wins—it helps build momentum and normalize innovation. Legacy companies typically have the resources and trust to lead disruption—but you must be willing to rethink even your most successful offerings. We recognized the need to modernize jewelry insurance at the point of sale, which led us to develop a mobile app. It was a bold shift from traditional models, but the decision to act proactively—before our customers demanded it—gave us a competitive edge. Ask yourself: What part of your business are you afraid to touch? That is often where innovation needs to happen most. Many organizations collect customer feedback, but the differentiator lies in how effectively that feedback is synthesized and acted upon. By combining usage trends from your various touchpoints (such as your website and mobile app) with data from service centers and post-interaction surveys, you can identify friction points and iterate quickly. For example, we implemented a unified customer data platform that allows us to proactively resolve service pain points, improve digital self-service functionality and strengthen omnichannel support. These insights have informed product enhancements and led to measurable improvements in engagement and satisfaction. I encourage you to invest in tools that centralize and surface feedback, whether they be a CRM system or custom dashboard. More importantly, empower your teams to act on what they learn. I have found that true personalization is not about having more data—it is about using that data to show customers you are listening and can meet them where they are. Build influence, create space for innovation, communicate your progress effectively, and empower your teams to do the same. In my experience, focusing on what can be controlled—and not letting things outside of that control paralyze your progress—is key. Establish a framework that empowers employees at every level to take ownership of ideas and drive initiatives forward. Look for technology solutions that generate measurable ROI, such as reducing manual processes through automation and digitization. I also recommend investing in self-service tools and streamlined digital platforms that directly support customer experience and business growth. This kind of proactive mindset can not only accelerate progress but also build organizational confidence and support a culture where innovation is continuous and sustainable. The Advantages Of Embracing Change By prioritizing continuous adaptation, you can regularly assess and adapt your business processes, product offerings and customer engagement strategies. You can also foster stronger, more long-term customer relationships. With expertly tailored personalized communication and a commitment to customer satisfaction, these relationships can feel more valuable to the customers they are meant to serve. Conclusion Legacy companies often have strengths that younger organizations do not, including history, trust and a strong foundation. I have seen how honoring our past while building boldly toward the future can be a winning combination. If you pair that foundation with a customer-first mindset, the right tools and a willingness to challenge assumptions, your legacy can not only survive, but thrive. Change is inevitable. Growth is optional. Choose to grow. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
