Over the next decade, we will see a global disruption of almost every industry at an unprecedented rate. The way humans work and live will change rapidly, mostly driven by technology, science and geopolitical instability. Fortune 500 companies will reshuffle many times over due to increased focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and startups in their infancy will most likely enter the top 20, offering services we don’t even know we need yet. It’s a decade of the unknown, far more roaring than our early 21st-century minds can imagine. It will include the next-generation iPhone catered to Gen Z and beyond, the next Uber, even likely the beginning of what could be the eventual colonization of Mars by Elon Musk. How can organizations lead through disruptive change when there is so much unknown?
What we do know for certain is that if we become uncomfortable with change, there is a 5-year-old out there right now who will eventually enter the job market and remind us why we shouldn’t be. Irrespective of intellect, skills and aptitude, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the speed of change with which our daily lives are reckoning, fear the unknown and suffer from change fatigue. Resistance to change often goes hand in hand with change fatigue, but they are very different. Change fatigue can be defined as a general sense of apathy or passive resignation toward organizational changes. Resistance to change is often a symptom of change fatigue.
This may manifest itself in your organization as disengagement, burnout, negativity, cynicism and general confusion. It will rear its ugly head on conference calls, in comments between colleagues by the water cooler and in pushback during team meetings. It won’t stay there either; it will find its way online where management projects that have failed to address the changing landscape will be subject to public opinion.
As a rule of thumb, people have a natural disposition toward predictability, security and stability, and they expect that as part of their psychological contract with their employer. So how can organizations effectively operate so as to adequately adapt to the external competitive environment in which they operate?
The answer is simple: They need to positively control the internal environment in a way that enables employees to grow, develop new skills and thrive while the outside environment constantly changes. Below are some guidelines on how organizations can be successful in combating change fatigue:
• Map it out: When companies are implementing multiple changes across the organization, they need to have a pre-determined roadmap and process of how all the changes will align together. In global organizations, teams are impacted by multiple changes across multiple projects, locations and time zones. Keeping employees apprised of developments establishes trust between employees and their employers and will streamline the change in a more productive manner. In addition, listing successful changes somewhere accessible (i.e., a company intra-site) to employees will motivate and energize them when they reflect back on their experience.
• Upskill and future-proof your people: A big reason why high performers resist change or experience change fatigue is the anxiety that with all this change, their current skills will not eventually matter. Why help you make them irrelevant? To better assist with energizing employee morale and buy-in to change, invest heavily in digitizing and future-proofing their skill sets. This will make them a part of the process, rather than pit them against it. Future-ready your people during these changing times so constant disruption is a challenge as opposed to a nuisance.
• Prioritize feedback sessions: I often read or hear about organizations introducing major changes and say to employees that the bus or train is moving, and people need to get on it or be left behind. That may be true, but although your vision is to get the company from A to B, don’t you want to know if you need to make a detour to C? Listening to your people and checking in during times of change makes them feel valued and appreciated. Be open to hearing that you underestimated the bandwidth or capacity it will take, and act on feedback. During times of disruption, you will face both success and failure, so embrace them both interchangeably. If something is not working, own it, assess what went wrong and act on rectifying the situation. One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is falling in love with their own vision. If you expect adaptability from people, provide it in return.
• Don’t forget the incentive: This is the most important element of combating change fatigue. Yes, people want to work for a profitable company, be on a winning team, be on the cutting edge of the digital age and high five each other when they meet their targets, but they also need to be recognized, appreciated and rewarded. If you do not make it a priority to recognize, reward and appreciate people during small milestones of change, they are more likely to dig in their heels to resist the change or be overwhelmed by the end of it. Learn to celebrate the wins and reward people accordingly before moving on to the next big thing.
Traditional change management practices were not built for what is coming next, whatever we brand it to be — the Fourth Industrial Revolution, digital transformation, the age of disruption. Change is inevitable and as 5G, robotics and automation, artificial intelligence and blockchain are further ingrained into our everyday lives, employees will expect companies to treat the race to success like a marathon, not a sprint. Companies should not just be focused on the finish line and pushing through on momentum alone, but have a sustained focus on employee morale and engagement along the way.
