Change Management: The 7 Key to Successful Transformations

With innovation today on the rise, companies are taking on more and more initiatives to reinvent and transform their business as a strategic measure to maintain market competitiveness. And yet, still, 3 out of 4 transformation projects today fail due to a lack of long-term engagement among participants.

In light of this dilemma, we are sharing our 7 essential keys for giving your transformation project every chance of success.

#1 Generate a strong interest around your transformation project

Ultimately, it is the vision of the leadership that mobilises a team and ignites in them the desire to drive a project to success. Well-defined and in line with company values, this vision is what will drive motivation and effort beyond the initial “inspiration phase” of a project. The challenge, then, is to make it attractive, meaningful and accessible.

#2 Engage teams on an ongoing basis

Transformation is a long and continuous process, lasting between 12 and 36 months, as it entails several aspects of the business: strategy, processes and, above all, human capital. Managing the transformation and collaborators therefore requires a sustained level of motivation in order to reach the expected performance standards for the transformation project.

#3 Implement a skill program that is both motivating and fun

Skill development initiatives must be part of a larger training process assembled around 3 core concepts:

  • Comprehensive: use all available formats to maximise the impact of e-learning from on-site learning and coaching to self-education;
  • Ongoing: acquiring a new skill requires time to allow new habits to take root and to achieve the expected results;
  • Fun: this is crucial to engage and enable the collaborator to become the agent of their own learning.

#4 Define the way you measure adoption and performance

L’Evaluating the success or failure of adoption too often boils down to a lot of intuitions and hearsay. Only by defining objectives and indicators of success ahead of the project, during the development stage, can the level of adoption be objectively measured later down the road. Using these success indicators should be simple and can be shared among all those involved in driving transformation in order to break through departmental silos and create an all-around positive team dynamic.

#5 Support those driving change

In recent years, transformation projects have been on the rise, have become more complex, and have multiplied by a factor of seven across the majority of industries. Team members and their leaders have become overwhelmed, and frequently feel they are on their own to drive transformation in the long-term, following the deployment phase. They need to continue to communicate and collaborate with all transformation participants and be led in the actions pertinent to long-term success.

#6 Use artificial intelligence to incite action

Les nouvelles technologies basées sur l’intelligence artificielle aident déjà les collaborateurs dans leur vie quotidienne. Le fonctionnement doit être similaire dans un contexte de transformation d’entreprise. L’IA peut être mis au service de l’accompagnement au changement pour créer de l’automatisation intelligente. Elle permet, par exemple, d’alléger la charge des équipes projet dédiée à l’New technologies based on artificial intelligence can help collaborators in their daily lives by facilitating certain decisions, including within the context of business transformation. AI can be used to support transformation via intelligent automation that can, for example, lighten the load of teams dedicated to analysing and directing adoption. AI can also recommend, in a personalised and targeted manner, the right kind of content or action at the right moment.

#7 Provide simple transparency

The transparency of a transformation project is key as it serves to create a positive dynamic between teams and invites them to participate in a collective adventure with shared goals and shared success. On the other hand, failing to be transparent means running the risk of reinforcing the beliefs of those who feel the project is not going well, as well as not rewarding those who are motivated to succeed.