{"id":2669,"date":"2016-07-12T20:14:02","date_gmt":"2016-07-12T20:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/?p=2669"},"modified":"2022-07-28T22:57:22","modified_gmt":"2022-07-28T22:57:22","slug":"are-you-short-changing-change-management-cm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/2016\/07\/are-you-short-changing-change-management-cm\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Short-Changing Change Management (CM)?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Using methodologies that were perfected two or three decades ago, Organizational Change Management (OCM) applies a structured approach that increases the probabilities that change projects will be implemented smoothly, successfully, and with long-lasting results.\u00a0 While the importance of change management as a discipline has been proven, formally using in-house experts in change management in Shared Services doesn\u2019t always happen, even though a solid change management process is arguably a required design element for any Shared Services initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many are familiar with and use the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle created by Deming<\/a>. Unfortunately, the human dimension of change exists, where managers and employees buy-in and support new processes, systems, or technologies, with an understanding of the fears and anxieties that change will bring, even when it is perceived as being overwhelmingly positive.\u00a0 As discussed in Wikipedia, \u201corganizational change management aligns groups\u2019 expectations, integrates teams, and manages employee-training\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 It includes communicating the reasons and benefits, and identifying and responding to resistance that can come through formal or informal channels.<\/span><\/p>\n

Peeriosity\u2019s iPollingTM<\/sup> functionality was recently used to perform custom research in the Shared Services Leadership research area<\/a> to learn directly from other member companies how they were using change management resources in Shared Services.\u00a0 \u00a0A member who is part of a large global company with a mature and advanced Shared Services organization created the questions.\u00a0 His title, \u201cGlobal Change and Transformation Lead\u201d, and his background \u2013 a degree in public relations and business communications, and a career in Corporate Communications, shifting to focus on global change and transformation<\/a> \u2013 suggest a very unique and specialized skill set.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The reason for the iPollingTM\u00a0 <\/sup>questions was to learn directly from peers how they were approaching change management.\u00a0 Unlike traditional benchmarking, results were captured over a few days and were available in real-time as they were posted, providing direct visibility to how member companies responded, with the ability for the person asking the question, and others, to follow up directly with responding peers to further explore differences in approach and design<\/a> using Peeriosity\u2019s integrated Peer MailTM<\/sup>\u00a0 capabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

The results indicate that 74% of companies engage in change management resources, with 26% of companies having professional change management resources that are part of the Shared Services organization, 4% who use internal change management resources that aren\u2019t part of Shared Services, and 44% who use a combination of internal and external change management resources.\u00a0 Only 26% indicated that they don\u2019t have professional change management resources on their project teams.<\/span><\/p>\n

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When looking at the number of investments companies have made in building change management capabilities, interestingly only 7% indicated that they had made a significant investment in staffing this role and training relevant employees, with 30% making a modest investment.\u00a0 An additional 26% have focused on training relevant employees, with no formal designation of a change management role, while 11% are just getting started by considering options for staffing the role, but no training has taken place so far.\u00a0 Finally, 26% indicated that they have made little to no investment in staffing the role or training employees.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Debating if it\u2019s a good idea to include change management resources in Shared Services is a little like arguing over whether or not the world is round or flat.\u00a0 The answer is clear the positive outcomes from paying attention to change management are beyond dispute.\u00a0 The important question is what level of risk is Shared Services willing to take by potentially under-funding this critical element of any change project?<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are a few of the comments from responding companies:<\/span><\/p>\n