Training Today: Improve Your Odds of Change Success

The overriding reason most change initiatives fail is that change sponsors do not involve or address the concerns of the people affected by the change.

Even under the best of circumstances,nearly 70 percent of all change initiatives fail. And that’s why most organizations never realize the benefits they hoped for with their new culture change, software implementation, or training initiative.

While there are many documented reasons why change initiatives fail, the overriding reason is that change sponsors do not involve or address the concerns of the people affected by the change.

The Ken Blanchard Companies asked 400 leaders why they thought their change initiatives ended up with less-than-stellar results. Overwhelmingly, these executives felt the main cause for failure was poor execution.

Where do most organizational initiatives wind up?

Bad Plan – Good Execution: 13%

Good Plan – Good Execution: 4%

Bad Plan – Bad Execution: 8%

Good Plan – Bad Execution: 74%

Based on our research, Blanchard believes the fastest way to defuse resistance to change and improve execution is by using a high involvement change strategy. Involve people in the change process—including what it will look like and how it is implemented—provide them with information to allay their concerns, and give them a chance to dialogue and influence the process. For more information, visit http://www.kenblanchard.com.

Lorri Freifeld
Lorri Freifeld is the editor/publisher of Training magazine. She writes on a number of topics, including talent management, training technology, and leadership development. She spearheads two awards programs: the Training APEX Awards and Emerging Training Leaders. A writer/editor for the last 30 years, she has held editing positions at a variety of publications and holds a Master’s degree in journalism from New York University.