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The chain of events that leads to high performance and sustained business results starts with renewal, new strategies or operational initiatives. Executives know that for new processes to take root, employees must be able to adapt. But the success of any new initiative depends as much on how a change is made as on the nature of the change.
Change management works when employees at all levels - senior managers, middle managers, and the front line - share the will and the skills to change. A recent study found a connection between good skills for managing change and the value an organization captures from it.
To determine the role of people in process changes, Moravec and Associates Business Strategy Execution Management Consultants researched organizations, including hospitals, manufacturers, banks, and utilities. Two dimensions were examined: first, the difference between the expected and actual value of the change; second, a company's strengths in factors that determine whether it can be managed effectively.
The strengths were measured at three organizational levels. Senior managers were evaluated on their ability to lead change and to communicate a clear and compelling message about it, middle managers on their skills in managing people and projects, and the front-line supervisors on how well employees were trained and motivated to change.
Companies with the best change management skills were the most successful at capturing value from such programs. The companies that met or exceeded their goals (44 percent) had above-average change management skills at two of the three organizational levels. These companies beat their expectations by almost a third, while companies with good skills at only one level failed to reach their targets.
Renewal, new business strategies or operational initiatives are important, but it is the good skills for managing change that count. Good skills for managing change are crucial to delivering results.