Change initiative failure rates & costs

4 days ago

2 min read

Hi, my name is Mike Ganyo. I am the founder and owner of Human-Centered Change Partners: Grounded in people. Focused on results.

A main reason I created HCCP is to help improve the low success rate of the standard “we will tell you about the change and train you, and you will change” approach and reduce the costs associated with this approach.

Curly-haired woman with eyes closed, hands clasped in a meditative pose, bathed in warm sunlight.

Failure rates

I’ve seen a lot of different statistics on change initiative failure rates. What I haven’t found is consensus on this number. 70% is probably the most quoted failure rate, but this figure has largely been debunked.

So, I conducted an experiment at a recent Toastmasters meeting in my area that many business leaders attend. I asked them three questions:

Have you ever rolled out a change at work? Everyone raised their hand.
Have you been the receiver/customer of a change at work? Everyone raised their hand again.
Reflecting on the changes you were a receiver/customer of, do you think, “That change went really well! I’m optimistic about how the next change will go based on how well this one went.”? NO HANDS WERE RAISED!

Costs

What’s the cost when change doesn’t go well? While there’s no consensus on a dollar amount Prosci, a global change management leader, points out there are project and organizational costs.

Project: Project delays, missed milestones, budget overruns, and rework
Organizational: Productivity plunges, reduced quality of work, loss of employees, and lost monetary investment in the project

The negative impact on human beings and on future change initiatives also cannot be overstated.

Closing thoughts

How are your change initiatives going?

How much time and money are you having to spend on changes that missed the mark?
Are you confident in how your next change will go based on how well your last one went?
Where are people in your organization on the continuum from overwhelmed to energized?

Are you confident in how your next change will go based on how well your last one went?

Thank you for reading! Please post your questions and comments in the Comments section and take a moment to check out the Services page on the website to learn more about HCCP services.

Take care!

Mike