Organizational Change Fatigue and the HR Imperative

Editor's note: Posts published on From the Workplace are written by outside contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of SHRM. 

Not to be confused with change resistance, change fatigue is characterized by a measurable decline in employee productivity and engagement. It is driven by a constant cycle of organizational change, even when change management processes succeed outwardly.  Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations have experienced periods of tremendous change, which, seemingly, is a positive strategic shift for an organization.

Beneath the positives lies the silent enemy, change fatigue, which many employees feel when leaders do not give them ample time to adapt or recover before implementing new changes. Constant cycles of change hinder employee engagement, collaboration, and innovation, decreasing productivity and increasing distrust.

The HR Imperative: The Five C’s

HR can manage change fatigue with the use of the five C’s of change fatigue avoidance:

1. Check: HR should check in on employees and understand the impact of the change process. Use surveys, meetings, data, and observation to assess employee readiness for change while upskilling leaders to recognize signs of change fatigue in their teams. Using these tools, HR can gauge and monitor the overall impact of the cycle of change on employees to determine if employees are nearing overload.
2. Communicate: On a regular cadence, HR should provide employees with the reasons, contexts, and expectations of the change(s), indicating how the changes correlate with the vision and goals of the organization and individual departments.
3. Convalesce: HR can prevent change fatigue by implementing change at an intentional pace, as they are strategically positioned to monitor organizational change on a holistic level. HR should allow employees recovery time in between change initiatives for reflection, rest, and recharging.
4. Calculate: HR can prioritize change initiative intervals and manage the pace based upon employee and organizational needs, either removing or delaying change processes when indicated.
   
5. Celebrate: HR should implement a recognition and reward system during the change process in an ongoing manner, not solely when a change stage is complete. It is the small wins and valuing their adaptability throughout the process that will keep employees motivated and engaged.

Organizations should not consider change fatigue synonymous with organizational change. Instead, it is a warning that there are challenges and opportunities in the change process. HR, in their influential capacity as stewards of organizational change, can proactively manage the change process, ensuring employees are engaged, productive, and resilient. Through HR’s management of the five C’s — check, communicate, convalesce, calculate, and celebrate — HR can minimize change fatigue even in a constant cycle of change. It is not simply what changes take place within an organization, but at what pace the changes are taking place.

Seminar: Managing Change

Kristen Algiers, SHRM-CP, is an HR business partner at Southern New Hampshire University.

Submit Your Article