Assumptions vs Data

How to kill a transformation

Meaningful insights over raw data

Having clarity on the state of a business and its readiness for change is a key starting point for any successful transformation. Assuming that the organisation and its people are ready for this is a high-risk strategy and unlikely to succeed. Which is why capturing and analysing data to provide a heat map of the current state of readiness will highlight specific areas for attention.

Leveraging data about your business and the change creates clarity on the challenge and surfaces shared assumptions. This then unlocks greater efficiency with reduced stress, resistance and rework throughout the implementation. However, our research suggests that many leaders aren’t taking this data-driven approach.

When asked to describe ‘how does a successful change project look to you?’, only 19% selected ‘moved the business forward.’

If leaders aren’t using data to confirm how their business should look once a project is complete, it will be impossible for them to accurately measure the impact of change – which is likely why Gartner found that 50% of leaders don’t know whether recent organisational transformations have succeeded.

Just 18% of those we surveyed said ‘having clarity on why a change was necessary’ is considered a key criterion of successful transformation within their business. Likewise, Oak Engage’s Change Report found that a lack of awareness around the reason for change was the 2^nd biggest driver of employee resistance to it.

People are never going to engage and adapt to a major transformation and all the challenges that come with it, if leaders haven’t articulated why it’s happening in the first place.

“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is to act with yesterday's logic.” - Peter Drucker

Without clear targets, what does success mean?

The responses highlights a lack of focus on the data, and in particular a lack of focus on the data relating to people:

20% Sustainable behaviour change
18% Positive employee feedback
18% Retaining talent
18% Increased efficiency

Change initiatives fail to meet their targets

McKinsey

Our research also showed that just 19% of HR leaders say their business considers ‘smooth implementation with minimal disruption’ as a key metric for a successful change initiative. Similarly, only 18% said that ‘achieving the businesses agreed outcome’ was a key deliverable for recent programmes. When leaders aren’t using data to monitor and track progress, it’s easy to lose sight of their original vision and inadvertently add stress and confusion to the process.

This can then result in employees growing cynical towards the project, losing trust in their leaders to implement change correctly, and an overall lack of ROI for the business as the programme fails to deliver its targets. And it happens far more regularly than you might think – only 1 in 3 major change initiatives fully meet the goals set out by the organisation.

Key takeaways

It's critical to use data and challenge assumptions when implementing change
Engage your people so they are clear on the purpose of the change
Use data to measure the impact on the business and on your people