Employees are dealing with an unprecedented amount of change since Covid, and they are weary. And this constant tussle to keep up with the changes is not only affecting their morale but also their ability to improve their performance. “Employees are dealing with digital acceleration, staff departures, adjusting to various working models, and many more workplace disruptions, and they are exhausted,” says Daniel Sanchez-Reina, VP analyst at IT research firm Gartner. “When unmanaged, employee fatigue is impacting the success of technological initiatives.”
While many organisations are devising good change management plans and implementing culture change where needed, many CIOs do not get the results they want. “This is because they overlook a critical factor, which is change fatigue,” says Sanchez-Reina. Gartner defines change fatigue as the negative employee response to change that harms organisational outcomes. “Fatigue hurts an employee’s performance in many ways, including apathy, burnout and frustration. It also decreases a worker’s ability to make decisions, solve complex problems and communicate,” he says. Gartner advises CIOs to take four steps to reduce change fatigue.
Treat change fatigue as a business issue
Gartner research found that eight out of 10 CIOs don’t make fatigue a regular part of their conversations about business technology initiatives. CIOs should factor change fatigue into their planning initiatives by adding a fatigue evaluation. It should be arranged as a discussion with business partners. This discussion should consider the level of effort each initiative requires and how to combine the day-to-day work with the initiative.
Distribute change leadership
Gartner advises CIOs to establish a distributed leadership, like assigning overseers and tactical decision-makers dispersed across the organisation, who have closer contact with workers and can change directions when fatigue rises. Distributed leadership also spreads the burden of decision-making, another key cause of stress.
Co-create execution and involve stakeholders
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,” says Sanchez-Reina. CIOs should set guidelines for how their teams should do their work, which helps ensure that the multidisciplinary teams share accountability for results and focus on delivering business outcomes, not merely completing a project plan.
Don’t dismiss the emotions of change
“Since a positive or negative emotional impact builds a positive or negative long-lasting memory in our brain, it is critical for CIOs to create a mental track record of as many positives as possible,” he says. “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 at the water cooler, making those concerns manageable.”