Gartner Outlines Four Step to Combat Change Fatigue

A company VP outline methods to ensure employee satisfaction and management success

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Gartner Outlines Four Step to Combat Change Fatigue
WFONews Analysis

Published: April 14, 2023

Rory Greener

Rory Greener

Employee fatigue is a real issue. CIOs must implement changes to respect employee standings such as apathy, burnout, and frustration by approaching workplace operation alterations with new technology solutions and standards.

Daniel Sanchez-Reina, VP Analyst at Gartner, added:

Any employee is dealing with digital acceleration, staff departures, having to adjust to various working models, and many more workplace disruptions, and they are exhausted. When unmanaged, employee fatigue is impacting the success of technological initiatives.

Moreover, workplace change management plans and culture change can cause disruptions in a workforce. Sanchez-Reina describes this as a “critical factor” that impacts operations that companies overlook.

Sanchez-Reina also added that fatigue can hurt an employee’s and an employer’s performance “in many ways, including apathy, burnout, and frustration.” Moreover, the VP Analyst noted that fatigue “decreases a worker’s ability to make decisions, solve complex problems, and communicate.”

Change-based fatigue is hitting the workplace following the Pandemic, which saw many firms change their operations to suit new hybrid and remote working expectations. With the world returning to normalcy and recent fluctuations in specific technology markets, many employers are again implementing core workplace changes to reflect this.

Although to keep their workers happy. Firms must recognize and act upon change fatigue. Here are Gartner’s top tips.

Four Steps to Reduce Change Fatigue

To assist firms with fighting change fatigue, Gartner outlined four crucial steps to keep operations flowing following significant workplace changes.

Step one is to treat change fatigue as a business issue. According to Gartner’s research, eight out of ten CIOs don’t regularly discuss change fatigue in the workforce.

Sanchez-Reina also noted that “most CIOs” primarily work with business partners to discuss project timelines and communication operations. Although, within their conversation, business leaders generally do not address employee standing, and “ultimately, they do not address worker fatigue.”

Step two is to distribute change leadership across multiple individuals. The firm notes that when a company uses a single manager for project, product, and initiative operations, they can overlook worker fatigue.

Gartner recommends that businesses distribute management obligations across various individuals to keep a focus on the workforce. Companies can achieve this by securing overseers and tactical decision-makers.

Step three is to secure cooperation between top executives and lower organizational layers to enable understanding between departments while undergoing change.

Sanchez-Reina also added:

CIOs should create teams that include technical experts as well as experts from all of the functions that the initiative will touch. The blend of people with different perspectives will contribute to the cohesiveness of the people involved in the change.

Increased cooperation between teams can lead to a multidisciplinary workforce that can share accountability and solve problems as a team, such as those related to changes in the workplace.

Finally, step four is to respect the emotions of their employees when undergoing change. Sanchez-Reina says it’s “critical for CIOs to create a mental track record of as many positives as possible” and understand the positive or negative emotional impact workplace change may cause.

Sanchez-Reina said

For example, some companies include ‘listening to the drawbacks’ sessions in the change plan, where employees have the chance to openly share their concerns. This initiative replaces the occasional venting moments in the water cooler or vending machine, making those concerns manageable.

Key Takeaways

Over the past five years, due to many worldwide economic and social factors, businesses have been experiencing unprecedented changes; managers must understand how this environment affects individuals at all levels of a company.

From technology solutions to management structures, business leaders have many tools in their belt, ready to create a positive workplace. Keeping workers happy and engaged, prepared to complete projects, serve customers, and meet goals while remaining happy in their role.

 

 

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