The importance of change management as a core element in complex transformations / Vikten av förändringsledning i komplexa transformationer

SWEDISH BELOW
 

Change management is often a neglected element of transformations and there is a general trend of underestimating the amount of time and effort that goes into applying a clear and structured approach to ensure that the right people receive the right information at the right time. But when done right, change management can have an exponential positive impact on the success of the transformation: turning resistance into excitement and cynics into ambassadors who champion and drive the initiative forward.

Last year Deloitte Consulting finished a long complex project where we helped a client through a large-scale business transformation which encompassed multiple system implementations, organizational changes, and employee reskilling which spanned across the client’s operations in several European countries. Human Capital Sweden played an active role in a central change management team and had ownership of change activities for workstreams focusing on the implementation of a new HR system, a new employee service portal, as well as the associated changes in the operating model and processes required to make the new digital solutions accessible.

By having a central change team, we were able to coordinate between the different functional workstreams and create a clear overview of all planned change activities without overloading our stakeholders with information, and hence minimized disruption to ongoing business activities and mitigated the potential risk of change fatigue within the client’s organization. Each functional workstream had at least one dedicated change representative, who conducted a similar set of change activities which were then gathered into a holistic overview of what needed to be done. All change activities were planned through Deloitte’s dedicated change management software ChangeScout.

The general change workstream activities were:

• Supporting senior management with leadership alignment on the target goals and envisioned end-state of the transformation.
• Providing a detailed stakeholder analysis which helped determine the needed level of involvement and engagement strategies for key people ranging from end-users to the project sponsors.
• Conducting a thorough change impact assessment which helped identify to which degree the transformation would actually change the organization and how these changes would be perceived from different stakeholder groups.
• Established an overarching change and communication plan including the coordination and facilitation of necessary training activities. Core communication and training material was also created by the change team which were handed over to country specific change managers from the client side who were responsible for localizing the content for their respective audiences.
• Continuously monitoring organizational change readiness via surveys which were directly distributed and analyzed in ChangeScout to determine if and where any additional communication or training would be needed to enable the transformation.
• Assembling and coaching a change agent network to support the client-side change managers throughout the transformation. This was done together with representatives from the client side to identify individuals with high social influence within the organization that could share their enthusiasm and excitement within their respective teams.

I have several key takeaways from my involvement in this project but if I were to summarize my top 3 it would be the following:

1. Have a clear overview of what is happening across all workstreams. There are a lot of moving parts in this type of transformation and there is a huge risk of double work if you are not coordinating and communicating between different functions. This is especially true in transformations with this level of complexity, with different launch dates for different systems and parallel timelines that differ between the countries involved. Having a clear overview not only mitigates this risk but can also turn it to your advantage by finding synergies that might not have been visible otherwise.
2. Make sure that you have a dedicated change counterpart from the client side and encourage them to give as much agency as possible to the change agent network. These people often know the organization inside and out and can be an invaluable asset if you just give them the chance. Delegate tasks and responsibilities when possible, and treat the members of the network as a primary stakeholder group whose input should be included in key stages of decision making as you progress through the transformation.
3. Listen to your stakeholders and be willing and able to adapt your plan and activities to the actual needs that they present. Having a solid plan is almost always a key success factor in executing a transformation, it is however crucial to pivot to accommodate situational and needs based changes.

And finally – proactive change management will greatly benefit the overall success of the transformation by being treated as a core element of the transformation rather than as a subtask or an afterthought to be handled on top of already existing functional workstreams.

Is your organization thinking about embarking on a transformational journey? How are you currently handling change management within your organization? We can help set you up for success both by supporting you through your transformation or by improving the processes that you already have in place and we look forward to helping you along the way!

For further information on how our Human Capital practice can support you with any people related activities please check out what my colleagues Linn, Kerstin, Manimala, Jack, and Sarah have shared from their experiences.

At Deloitte, we work together with you in a transparent and trustful manner. If obstacles or challenges arise along the way, we collaborate to find proactive solutions. We share experiences, learnings and ideas. Together, we develop solutions that are easy to understand and adapt to your business. We believe in, and are guided by, working sustainably – both by developing sustainable solutions and proposals, but also by working in a sustainable, engaging, and motivating way, with a high degree of involvement from the organization. 

I’m excited to hear about your thoughts and your own experiences with change in your organization or life – more than happy to connect on LinkedIn or email to set up a chat!

johrner@deloitte.se