Top contributors to success
Module 4 - Resources

Prosci's change management approach is based on seven benchmarking studies conducted over the last fourteen years. In each of the seven studies, respondents identified the greatest overall contributor to success. This tutorial series presents the top six contributors to success identified by participants in the 2012 benchmarking report:

1. Active and visible executive sponsorship
2. Frequent and open communication about the change
3. Structured change management approach
4. Dedicated change management resources and funding
5. Employee engagement and participation
6. Engagement with and support from middle management

Each tutorial in this series will address one of the six success contributors and will present findings, implications for change management professionals and additional data on the topic available in the 2012 edition of Prosci's Best Practices in Change Management benchmarking report.

This module of the series presents success contributor #4:
Dedicated change management resources and funding

Success contributor #4: Resources

Over the past decade, Prosci has noticed a pronounced increase in the number of change projects that involve a dedicated change management resource to work with or parallel to the project team. This trend speaks to the recognition that change management is not only important, but a necessary consideration in undergoing organizational transitions or transformations. While in many cases the change management practitioners assigned to projects are grossly under resourced and underfunded, we cannot ignore the fact that ten years ago, such a position probably did not exist. So why should you advocate for dedicated change management resources in your organization or on your project?

Employing change managers on change projects

The long and the short of it is this:
Dedicated resources = more effective change management = greater probability for project success

Research participants from Prosci’s 2012 Best Practices in Change Management report identified important advantages of having a dedicated change management resource, and the consequences of not. Dedicated change management resources - “change managers” - on change projects first and foremost provide focus and help keep track of all activities that go into managing the people side of change. For example, they ensure the communications plan incorporates the “what’s in it for me” in addition to logistics of how the change is progressing. Both types of information are equally imperative to change management oriented communications.

Likewise, the number one consequence, cited almost three times more frequently than the other findings, was that key activities pertaining to the people side of change were neglected without a practitioner dedicated to the people side of change—these included: keeping change management plans organized, considering the end-user, maintaining priorities and realistic timelines, ensuring adequate resources and keeping people engaged in the change.

We can see therefore how, upon weighing the advantages and consequences of incorporating change management resources with the project team, managing the people side of change requires a focused, dedicated individual or team to keep the “change machine” running smoothly. If these findings still prove insufficient to make your case, perhaps a different approach is necessary.
If the case for change management has yet to be made in your organization, you may struggle to ensure that such an imperative resource can be secured for your project. But the research is clear: of the respondents who reported using a dedicated change management resource, 60% reported having a good or excellent change management program, compared to only 30% of respondents who did not employ a dedicated resource. All of this matters because research participants who deployed good or excellent change management were six times more likely to meet business objectives.

Together with clear advantages and consequences, drawing the connection between having a dedicated change management resource and meeting project objectives will surely turn some heads in the board room and hopefully give you a solid foundation for making a case for a change management resource.

Securing a budget for change management

So far we have referred to the “dedicated change management resource” in terms of a person or a team who does change management activities—communications, sponsor preparation and engagement, coaching of managers on how to lead their employees, training employees on how to successfully undergo a change as an individual, etc.—but none of these activities are free of additional types of cost. For the first time, research participants from the 2012 report were asked what the primary components of their change management budget were. Respondents identified the following additional costs:

• Change management resource cost
• Training cost
• Communications cost

In addition, participants also noted secondary budget components, such as consultants’ fees, event costs, etc. The Best Practices in Change Management report goes into greater depth than ever before to identify trends in how much goes into change management efforts, both in terms of FTEs and budget, in relation to the size and budget for the respective project.

Just as it is important to go into a change project with an understanding of the organizational landscape in order to create a change management strategy, it is also important to have approximate expectations of what all goes into change management efforts in order to accurately discuss and portray your resourcing needs.

Implications for change management professionals

1. Ensuring access to sponsor

One of the greatest challenges to the success of change management programs is ensuring effective sponsorship from senior leaders. As this is such a key component to change management success, and subsequently project success, a change management resource dedicated to the task of securing this sponsorship is critically important.

The implication for you as a change practitioner is that it is important to go into a change project with a clear and well defined change management strategy before embarking on change management activities. By appropriately establishing expectations and determining levels of engagement - for you, your team and your sponsor - you can more effectively tailor your change management efforts and make the most of your resources.

There are multiple positive outcomes resulting from the successful endorsement from a senior leader/project sponsor. For example, having a dedicated change management resource assigned to a project team can act as an outward signal to the rest of the organization of the organization’s support for change management and the credibility of change management. Another plus to earning the support and access to a project sponsor is that now there is a channel back to the project sponsor, establishing a two-way street between the project team and the project sponsor.

2. Securing resources

If you are a seasoned change management practitioner, you are already sold on change management, but you may also know how challenging it can be to secure the necessary resources and funding for your change management efforts. You may also know that the implication of not securing the necessary resources can be detrimental to your efforts and to the project as a whole.

Ensuring access to your sponsor and solidifying their engagement will certainly help in securing the necessary budget and additional resources for change management. Research participants also provided some tactics to get senior leaders on board specifically with providing resources for change management:

• Learn from past failures and present success stories
• Clearly show negative impacts of neglecting the people side of change
• Speak “finance” and show the tangible financial impacts
• Use concrete data to connect change management to ROI

Ultimately, as a change manager having these sometimes difficult conversations regarding resourcing and budgeting, it is important to be mindful that there is not a single “equation” that will prescribe the exact amount, type or number of change management resources required. There is a growing body of data that gives some insight, but ultimately the necessary resources for projects depend on the characteristics of the change and the organization.

Best Practices in Change Management is an excellent tool to keep within arm’s reach when working through the challenges of managing change. The report provides more insight on topics related to “Dedicated change management resources and funding,” such as collaborating with project teams, tactics for ensuring effective sponsorship and gaining access to sponsors.

Additional research findings available in the 2012 edition

The list below provides additional findings available in the 2012 edition of Best Practices in Change Management on structured approaches for change management. The full benchmarking report is available for $289 (order here). The 2012 edition of Best Practices in Change Management includes countless tips and suggestions to ensure your approach is holistic and structured.

Benchmarking report sections on resources and funding:

• Attributes of a great team member
• Permanent position or job role for change management
• Change management job description
• Team structures and preferences
• Decisions on the number of change management resources
• Advice for new teams on resources and structure
• Advantages of having a dedicated resources
• Consequences of not having dedicated resources
• Correlation of dedicated resources to effectiveness
• Change management budget components
• Average FTE dedicated to change management
• Percent of project FTE dedicated to change management
• Average budget dedicated to change management
• Percent of project budget dedicated to change management

Coming up:

Success contributor #5 - Employee engagement and participation