Why Business Change is Hard to Manage

Changing

It’s no secret that change is hard. Times change, people change, and your business will definitely change.

There’s this little saying among parents, “the days are long, but the years are short.” It’s often used to remind each other that while the tantrums can be draining, life moves and changes quickly.

Whether you have kids or not, the sentiment that time passes and life changes quickly are relatable to anyone. It’s probably even more poignant to business owners. 

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

It doesn’t matter your industry or if you offer products and services for other businesses or consumers. The demand for your business, the needs of your customers, what works in marketing…it’s all undergoing constant change. Your business needs to be able to adapt.

Change is hard enough but managing change and helping an organization change is even harder.

The problem is for some reason, change is hard. In fact, in a research study by Mckinsey and Company, it was found that  70% of all transformations fail. Seventy percent! That’s an insane amount of change initiatives meant to help a company succeed to simply fail in implementation.

Sure, some of the desired changes may have ended up not working out had they been fully adopted. However, management teams don’t typically institute a change for change’s sake. There is always a need or a problem to be solved.

Hurtles of Change

One is your employee’s understanding of the need for change. If your employees don’t see the need for the change, then you’re going to have a very difficult time convincing them to do it.

Another has to do with resources. A change often requires a shift in resources from one area of your business to another.

A third roadblock is professional and personal motivation and this one isn’t all that surprising. Your employees actually have to want to change.

Another big one is company culture. In other words, what’s expected is what happens and since it’s what they expect, it’s what keeps happening.

Really, it can probably be narrowed down to the moment on the first day of school when the teacher lets kids pick their seats. After the first day every kid sits in the same seat they did the day before. There’s no rule that they must to stay in the same seat, and yet, it’s exactly what’ll happen. This is probably the most culture-ridden struggle any change management team will face.

Overcoming the Challenges of Change in Your Culture

Creating change that sticks is difficult, but necessary in order to adapt and grow your business. Successful change management is critical to your company’s survival, let alone profitability.

It’s a necessity for success is one of the reasons why StellaPop set out to help businesses like your’s succeed with change management. There’s no reason to be bogged down by the challenge of change management.

**Stay tuned for part two where we will dive into strategies for successfully taming the change beast.**

See Also:

Deep Change: 5 Steps to Jumpstart Business Disruption and Innovation

Company Culture is More Than a Hiring Asset: Here’s Why

Built Not Bought – How to Grow a Healthy Company Culture

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