Organizational Redesigns Will Fail Without Effective Change Management, Says Info-Tech Research Group

The value of an organizational redesign effort is determined by the percentage of individuals who adopt the changes and operate in the desired way

Although most companies do a great job defining new organizational structures, they often invest poorly in effective change management to ensure that employees can adopt a new way of operating. To help technology leaders adopt the necessary best practices and align to a meaningful vision, global IT research and advisory firm Info-Tech Research Group has published its Adopt Change Management Practices and Succeed at IT Organizational Redesign blueprint.

According to Info-Tech‘s research, organizational redesigns frequently fail during implementation primarily because they do not consider the change management required to succeed. These failures can lead to the loss of critical talent and institutional knowledge, the inability to deliver on strategic goals and objectives, and financial and time losses. Therefore, implementing an organizational design with good change management practices is more important than defining the new organizational structure.

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“It is important to be prepared to clearly describe why this change was needed, and the unique benefits each employee can expect from the new structure,” says Brittany Lutes, research director at Info-Tech Research Group. “Redesign efforts should be driven by a clear need to align to the organization’s vision and support the various objectives that will need to take place.”

The firm’s research further indicates that when good change management practices are used and embedded into the implementation process, employees feel respected and engaged, reducing turnover and productivity loss. Effective change management practices can also help avoid gaps and disorganization, saving time and money. It can also enable the desired operating structure to be implemented faster, allowing the delivery of strategic objectives.

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Info-Tech suggests that technology leaders ensure that the following change management factors are considered when implementing a redesign plan for an IT organizational structure:

• Align to a meaningful vision: An organizational redesign must be aligned with the organization’s clear and meaningful vision. A trending organizational structure or operating model should never be the driver for an organizational redesign.
• Prepare IT leaders: Organizational redesigns can elicit negative responses from employees as it generates fears around the unknown. Therefore, it’s critical to have people leaders, not just technical leaders, who are able to have difficult conversations with employees to further the successful implementation and adoption of the new organizational structure.
• Communicate frequently and with transparency: All communications about the organizational redesign must be done intentionally and as transparently as possible to help limit the spread of rumors and loss of critical talent. It is also crucial to provide employees with opportunities to ask questions, voice concerns, and share suggestions for the upcoming changes.
• Involve employees: Organizational redesigns often fail to include the most impacted employees during the planning stage, resulting in a major lack of support for the redesign. Monitoring and measuring employee engagement and adoption throughout the redesign is also critical.
• Measure adoption: Metrics have the dual benefit of measuring a successful implementation and meeting the original drivers. Organizations going through any transformation, like an organizational redesign, should measure whether they are successfully on track to meet their target or have already met that goal.

The firm’s research also states that receiving 100% employee adoption support is unlikely. However, if employee adoption is not within the 80-90% range, organizations should not attempt the next phase of the transformation until employees have clearly indicated a solid understanding of the changes.

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