Jay Tankersley

Change Management Failure: 4 Reasons Your Tactics Won’t Work

Are you tired of seeing your change initiatives fail? If you’re putting a lot of effort into implementing change, only to watch it fall apart, it’s time to reassess your tactics.

The majority of change efforts don’t succeed, and there are a few common causes. When you understand these obstacles, you’re able to craft your change management approach to avoid failure.

Are there areas of your workforce where you want to see improvement, but you don’t know where to start? Perhaps your employees’ job performance is only passable, and you’re ready to see outstanding. Setting professional development goals for your managers is a strategic way to achieve greater productivity and quantifiable results.

Think about the last time your day was interrupted by a staged fire drill. The deafening noise of the fire alarm, the inconvenience of leaving your work behind to practice evacuating the building in an orderly fashion – it was all probably a major inconvenience, right?

The answer, of course, is "wrong." We train in order to prepare for the future, for the unknown. Practicing preemptive training helps you maintain calm when an actual emergency occurs. Instead of waiting for a problem to arise, you take steps to prepare yourself in advance.

Change management training is a lot like practicing fire drills (but without the loud noise). About 70% of change initiatives fail, which makes cultivating change management skills so important. While you may not be facing an imminent change right now, one is sure to arise in the future. Preparing yourself in advance helps increase productivity and keep operations running efficiently.

Explore these five benefits to making a preemptive investment in change management and find out how it helps you prepare for the future.

Did you know that 85% of the global workforce considers themselves to be on the job market? According to LinkedIn’s Talent Trends 2014 study, these candidates are either actively searching for or passively open to the prospect of leaving their current job in the dust. What does that mean for your team members today? Well, it looks like less than a quarter of them are actually content to stay with your company.

When it comes to retaining winning talent, it may seem like the odds are stacked against you. But, you want the continuity of keeping good team members who know your processes, clients and industry. It’s been proven that retaining talented team members saves you money.

One way to encourage loyalty among your employees is by developing opportunities and pathways that lead to promotions. If your workers see a future with you, they’re less likely to look for one elsewhere.

Whether it’s dealing with miscommunication, lack of time or conflicts in the workplace, you face challenges daily that decrease your productivity. Ultimately, you want your team to run like a well-oiled machine, but so many challenges often get in the way.

Fortunately, a smooth-running business is easy to achieve when you master a few key management training skills.

If you’ve ever been tasked with selecting a management training program, you know it isn’t easy. There’s an overwhelming number of options on the market, and more coming daily. After the long selection process, you face the possibility of the program you selected falling flat. It might not engage your employees or offer practical tactics for your workplace.

In order to be confident that you’re choosing the right training program for your team, it is essential to take the following steps.

In the business world, change is never easy. A common first reaction to change is panic or skepticism. In fact, 70% of change initiatives fail. This type of failure is a complete waste of time and resources, and it cuts significantly into your productivity.

So, when your team is facing change, it’s important to attack the transition in the most effective way. Remember these three keys to maintaining productivity and boost team morale internally.

What are you looking for in your management training programs? Course content is important, and so is program cost. Maybe you’re seeking a program that simply fills the yearly training requirement, or one that’s entertaining enough to keep employees engaged.

While these things are significant, there are some fundamental factors that you may be overlooking when it comes to training program selection – ones that cut into your overall program success.

Are your employees snoozing in the front row of their professional development courses? Perhaps people in the back are playing on their phones? If you’re facing disengaged employees, you’re not alone.

Companies are constantly struggling to keep their employees engaged in professional development, but this doesn’t have to be as difficult as it seems. Take these five actions to improve employee engagement in your organization’s training programs.

Does it often feel like employees are wasting time on the job? According to the Workplace Productivity Poll conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, there seems to be agreement on the top factor that’s hindering productivity: 58% of HR professionals and 49% of employees view poor management as having the most negative impact on their daily efficiency.

So, if your company is suffering from unproductive workers, the first area to evaluate is management. An investment in professional development has the potential to stop an unproductive work environment at the source. Select management training courses that directly impact daily work, with a focus on delegation, discipline, communication, workplace habits and change management.