Implementing organisational changes is only one of the first few steps towards meaningful change. Unfortunately, the very nature of change requires managers to be always on their toes to sustain the momentum initiated by the change interventions. Sustaining change is very different from implementing change. There are factors that can have an impact on the programme at any point in its lifespan. That is why change managers must be ready to implement both reinforcement and corrective measures to sustain the change.
Spreading Change
Most organisations initiate changes in their structure, processes, systems, or even resources in small, measurable units. This allows them to evaluate the accuracy and effectiveness of the interventions. Only when they are already certain that the proposed interventions can indeed lead to the achievement of the objectives will the change programme be implemented on a larger scale.
This is the main principle behind spreading change. It denotes the effectiveness of the proposed change measures as observed from a pilot population. Change managers take the outcomes as cues for implementing the same programme to other parts or units of the organisation. In some cases, the change interventions can be applied to other organisations.
Factors that Can Affect Spread of Change
The success of spreading or extending the effectiveness of change to other organisational units or to other organisations depends on certain factors.
- Attributes of the Innovation
Everett Roger proposed that new ideas and/or technologies vary in their mechanisms of spread across organisations and cultures. He identified 5 critical attributes of innovation that can spell the difference between a successful spread of change and an unsuccessful one. Roger said that a good innovation should have relative advantages, compatible with the values of the people, neither too complex nor too simple, trailable, and observable.
- Context
The existing organisation climate can also have an impact on the success of change spread. If the other units of the organisation are open to change, then spreading change to these parts of the organisation will be easy. On the other hand, organisational units that are averse to change will make the implementation of the innovation more difficult.
- Values of Potential Users
The value-belief system of the target recipients of change is also important. This is commensurate to Roger’s second attribute of a good innovation – compatibility. Rogers proposed that the innovation should foster a sense of harmony between the different elements of the innovation and the different aspects of their individual lives.
In general, an innovation that requires substantial changes in the lifestyle of the people in the organisation is doomed to fail. The people of the organisation must determine whether the innovation will promote the fulfilment of their individual values or will act to hinder it.
Spread and Sustainability of Organisational Change
David Buchanan and Louise Fitzgerald wrote a book in the mid-2000s that described the issues that confront organisations as they implement and sustain change. Many organisations tend to put so much emphasis on the ‘best practices’ without recognising and understanding the risks that the “improvement evaporation effect” can have on the organisation.
The general observation is that organisations are very preoccupied with instituting only the best practices. What they fail to recognise is that the preoccupation with best practices prevents organisations from making a very objective assessment of what is already working for them.
For an innovation to spread and become sustainable, the organisation must have a clear understanding of what it wants to achieve. If the programmes are producing the results set out at the beginning of the planning stage of organisational change, then there is no need to institute other ‘best practices’ that may require a fundamental shift in peoples’ priorities and disrupt the flow already established by the current programme.
Of course, organisations also must take into consideration a host of factors in determining whether it is better to adopt a new ‘best practice’ or to stick with a practice that is already proven effective.
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Questions that Change Managers Need to Address to Sustain Change
Change managers need to know how they can sustain the change in their respective organisations. While there are no foolproof blueprints to help ensure the sustainability of change, managers can look at the following questions to serve as a guide to their actions.
- Do Change Managers Pursue A Change Strategy That Wins Long-Term Commitment?
The change interventions should be relevant to the needs of the people who will be implementing them. This is crucial, otherwise the programme itself will lack the commitment from its target beneficiaries.
Managers need to design a strategy that ensures the long-term commitment of everyone in the organisation. The strategy should be something that people can relate to, or at least allow the people to find value in its execution.
- Do They Reinforce Changes Post-Implementation?
One issue that plagues many organisations is the lack of implementation reinforcement. There are some organisations that stop doing the different change interventions, simply because the objectives have already been met.
Unfortunately, failure to reinforce the changes after implementation of the change interventions can lead to the reversion of the organisation to its prior state. This is because the organisation did not provide the necessary framework or infrastructure upon which the people can continue working and living the innovations that they have been imbibed with.
- Do They Avoid Declaring Victory Too Soon?
There are organisations that are very eager to declare victory without any concrete, valid, reliable, and accurate supporting data. While such pronouncements can serve as motivation for the organisation to continue its path, there may be some who may revert to old habits. They may think that the organisation already achieved its objectives. There is no longer the need to continue what they are doing.
- Is Sufficient Attention Given to Managing the Consequences of Churn?
One way to gauge the effectiveness of organisational change is the impact of the strategies on customer churn. Customer churn or customer attrition occurs when an organisation’s customers no longer find value in an organisation’s products or services. Customers stop availing of these products or services.
Managers should also consider the potential effects of sustaining the change on customer attrition or customer churn.
Sustaining change involves a continuous assessment and evaluation of the different aspects of the change programme. Change managers need to determine if it is worth continuing with the changes or will a substantial revision of the strategy bring in the desired outcome in the long run.