The HR Guide to Overcoming Change Fatigue at Work

A Gartner survey found that employee willingness to support organizational change significantly plummeted from 74% in 2016 to 38% in 2022. The plunge highlights a growing issue of "change fatigue" among employees, where they are increasingly resistant to undergoing further organizational transformations.

Making organizational changes is an iterative process and ultimately revolves around the leaders' ability to build and maintain momentum among employees. An HR leader’s role is indispensable in reengineering the change management process aimed at maintaining employee morale and productivity while reinforcing the change. Let’s explore how HRs can champion change and help organizations transition effectively.

Understanding Change Fatigue

Change fatigue results from the exhaustion and decreased resilience that employees experience when they are subjected to frequent or prolonged periods of organizational change.
People don’t resist the change itself but the uncertainty that accompanies it. Neuroscience supports the fact that our brains perceive uncertainty as physical pain, and we instinctively try to steer clear of it.

To avoid ‘change fatigue’, HR must address the following three questions that employees usually have.

● Unfamiliarity
Not knowing the details of a change makes it likely for employees to become insecure about adapting and succeeding with the new processes.
Take Apple, for instance. The company received a lot of backlash from its customers after announcing the plans to implement a change on iOS 17. What’s fascinating is that it wasn’t even a drastic change; it simply involved moving the end call button from the middle of the screen to the right corner.
However, users unconsciously feared this tiny change would alter or reprogram their “muscle memory”, which might cause significant frustration. The same concept explains the ‘fatigue’ that employees encounter when a ‘change’, however small or big, is introduced.

● Not knowing the reason for the change
Most organizations adopt a top-down approach to change, meaning leaders decide the change strategy and the new roadmap that everyone must follow. However, leaders must realize that employees want to be a part of the process of preparing, equipping, and supporting people. This will allow them to contribute to the change sequencing while fostering a deeper sense of connection and organizational alignment.
The fear of the unknown forms the basis of employee resistance to change. So, every touchpoint with your team, from a staff meeting to a review, should be viewed as an opportunity to explain the change and why you think it will make the organization better down the line.

● Reduced trust due to job insecurity
A bit of disruption can lead to employees facing job insecurity, safety insecurity, kill insecurity, or cultural insecurity. Technological changes are a huge driver of such insecurity among employees. For instance, when Tesla pushed for greater automation in 2017, their restructuring, which included laying off hundreds of employees, raised concerns about the impact automation has on employment.

Thus, in the end, profound changes lead to stress for the mind and body, which eventually culminates in change fatigue.

According to Gallup research, 73% of employees say that their organization has experienced disruptive change within the past year. But when change is sudden or mishandled, it damages employees’ morale and trust.

Change fatigue isn't new, but the pace at which it is happening has turned this into more than an HR concern—it's now a critical business risk.

Effective Change Management Strategies

In mitigating change fatigue, organizations must prioritize clear communication, involve employees, and provide enough support and resources to mitigate the psychological impacts of change.
Try finding answers to the following questions through surveys, open discussions, and forums:
● How do employees feel about the change when transitioning to new tools/software? What are their concerns?
● What’s the impact on their morale and engagement? How can you keep these aspects positive?
● How many employees are on board with the change and would be willing to support their peers through the change?

ADKAR Model

One of the most powerful tools designed to help HR and business professionals smooth out transitions, boost employee adoption, and minimize disruption is the ADKAR model. ADKAR is an acronym highlighting the outcomes an individual must achieve for a given change to be successful: awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement. Defined sequentially, each step builds on the previous outcome to help individuals drive change.

Kotter’s 8-Step Model

Another powerful change management framework is Kotter’s 8-step approach. The proven approach to creating lasting impact involves following these linear steps:

1. Create a sense of urgency: Inspire people to act with passion and purpose to achieve a bold, aspirational opportunity.
2. Build a guiding coalition: Guide, coordinate, and communicate activities that strengthen team bonding.
3. Form a strategic vision: Get buy-in for how you can make the desired future come alive through initiatives linked directly to the vision.
4. Find volunteers: Appoint change catalysts who can rally around a common opportunity.
5. Enable action by removing barriers: Clear the way for people to innovate, work across silos, and generate impact quickly.
6. Recognize wins: Generate and celebrate short-term wins, early and often.
7. Sustain acceleration: Be relentless with initiating change after change until the vision is a reality.
8. Institute change: Evaluate systems and processes to ensure management practices reinforce the new behaviors, mindsets, and ways of working you invested in.

Supporting Employees Through Change

Here's how to align HR in your change management processes and how to do it effectively.
● Monitor the organizational climate
Circulate surveys and conduct HR audits to understand the prevailing emotional and psychological atmosphere within an organization. This helps paint a broad picture of how the change is being accepted and identify roadblocks, if any.
● Create change ambassadors
Appoint HR professionals, team leaders from various departments, and C-suite executives to plan and execute changes effectively. It will facilitate the exchange of viewpoints and expertise to ensure that the changes introduced are suitable for the entire organization.
● Have a training program in place
Offer training opportunities to enhance employees' resilience and adaptability. Whether it's a new CRM tool your organization intends to implement or a new payroll management software, helping employees adjust to the changes and learn new skills is essential to success.

As catalysts for change and curators of culture, HR leaders need to think through the psychology of their people and their needs at a macro and micro level.

Conclusion

Creating a space for an open, iterative dialogue helps everyone understand the purpose behind a change, which can minimize resistance and foster a culture of innovation and adaptability. You have to appreciate the value of listening to everyone's concerns so that you can alleviate any concerns any stakeholders or affected parties may have.
Looking to master change management at your organization? Get in touch with one of our experts at PERSOL to know how our workforce solutions can help you sail in the winds of change.