Bridging the Gap Between Technological Advancements and Organizational Change
In today’s world, business transformation and technological advancements are accelerating exponentially, while organizations are absorbing such advancements and changes in a sub-linear manner. Therefore, there is a significant gap between the new business trends and the current change management methodologies adopted in organizations.
The rapid changes in business and the introduction of new trends have made businesses around the world in red ocean, hence adapting to the current business transformation is essential for organizations to survive competition and to remain proactive to new market trends. The rapid transformation has introduced the concept of “New Normal”. According to McKinsey & Company, international companies have quadrupled the speed of digital transformation initiatives due to the current pandemic. So, initiatives planned for 2025 are taking place in 2021. Therefore, the new normal is a continuous change, and the business transformation is here to stay.
Overcoming Resistance: The Key to Successful Change Management
Despite the fact that change management is presented as a mature discipline, more than 50% of organizations around the world fail to meet business objectives through an efficient change management approach. 59% of organizational change initiatives failed to meet their objectives. Organizations with a successful change management initiative are 6 times more likely to meet business objectives than organizations with no or poor change management. Successful organizations typically allocate 23% of project budget to ensure an excellent implementation of change management.
Managing change in organizations is 2 times more likely to fail due to employee resistance rather than operational issues. Despite the fact that employee’s resistance to change is considered normal and reasonable, practitioners argue that the ability to overcome resistance is crucial for daily operations, times of crisis, and achieving long term objectives.
Leadership and Communication: Pillars of Digital Transformation Success
Effective communication and transformational leadership are key factors contributing towards the successful implementation of change management. Communicating change initiatives between management and employees as well as people involvement are essential to address resistance against new initiatives, and leaders are required to inspire a transformational mindset to adopt new practices and achieve business objectives.
