Preventing Change Fatigue During Long-Term Projects

Organizational changes have become commonplace in recent years, whether they are the result of digitization efforts or shifts in workplace structure. Shared services and GBS are responsible for not only managing the implementation of these projects but also ensuring that the stakeholders affected have what they need to excel amidst these changes to their work.

Survey data taken from the Continuous Improvement Digital Summit show that 45% of respondents said they had been in projects lasting 1-2 years, while 25% said they had been on a project that lasted 2-5 years. These numbers suggest that long-term projects are commonplace in shared services, and leaders need to be prepared for change fatigue to set in during these organizational changes.

During the summit, Shelly Blakeman, Principal, Change Management for Delta Dental, and Sigra Sharma, Regional Head of Process Improvement - Continental Europe and the UK for SLB, participated in a session discussing their strategies for overcoming stakeholder change fatigue in long-term projects.  

What is change fatigue? 

In order to determine the best ways to prevent change fatigue leaders must understand what change fatigue is and what it looks like in employees.  
Shelly shared several definitions for change fatigue, mentioning descriptions such as “passive resignation”, “loss of energy”, and “a general sense of weariness, indifference and resistance to organizational change.”

These definitions all show that change fatigue is an individualized human response and deeply emotional. Organizations need to be proactive in addressing change fatigue. In order to do so, managers must be wary of the following indicators of change fatigue that Sigra mentioned:

• Bitterness, both active and passive, towards change
• Complaints that old ways worked fine
• Lack of commitment, responses surrounding the long-term project
• Comparing a new project to previously failed transformation projects

Please note that these are just a few examples of indicators. All individuals are likely to demonstrate change fatigue in their own unique manner. Therefore, checking in with your employees frequently amidst a long-term project is important. 

In 2020, Jessica Knight, a VP at Gartner, said, “the amount of change that the average employee can absorb without becoming fatigued is half what it was last year." Despite this statement being made three years ago, there is no evidence that fatigue has waned in 2023. 

What can organizations do to prevent change fatigue? 

Now that we’ve looked at what change fatigue means and what some of its key indicators are, we can now look at steps organizations can take to avoid creating change fatigue amongst their employees. For Shelly, there are three key areas organizations need to focus on in order to do so.

1. Double down on purpose: Leaders need to think with intention about the organizational changes that are being implemented. “Be very clear about the why,” said Shelly. “Why does this change exist? Why are we doing this now?” The change needs to be framed as both an opportunity for growth and a solution to an already existing problem.
2. Measure what matters: Change with intention also includes managing the pace of change to give employees the space and time they need to process. Use the data to measure the success of adoption and understand where weaknesses lie.
3. Thaw the frozen middle: Don’t look at change as one big bang. Observe it as continuous improvement in which each individual needs to be folded into the changes being made. Establish change management strategies that position your best people leaders to provide support and identify adaptive challenges. 

While creating ways to avoid change fatigue for your employees is essential, you also don't want that sense of burnout to exist within yourself. Sigra says in order to avoid internal change fatigue, you must start by accepting that change is a constant in life. Once you understand that change is a constant, find people in the workplace who you connect with and trust in order to discuss the ongoing changes.

The following is just a taste of the in-depth discussion between Shelly and Sigra on change fatigue. If you want to see the whole conversation on demand, click here.

For more information on change fatigue and stakeholder management, purchase your pass for SSOW Autumn this September 11-14 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This three-day event will also discuss hot shared services topics such as generative AI, talent retention, and much more!