Restructures, mergers and acquisitions, and digital transformations are shaping workplaces worldwide. We all know that change is vital for any business to succeed and grow. But, if we look closely, we will find that more than 65% of the change initiatives fail and 40% among those happen because of employee resistance

Today’s competitive market does not allow organizations to be unsuccessful over important change initiatives. A study shows that about 80% of businesses are likely to witness negative revenue impacts within a year of failing to complete digital transformation efforts. We have also seen the effect of the Covid pandemic leading to increased employee burnout and the ‘great resignation’ and how workplaces struggle with change fatigue.

It is an issue that entrepreneurs and communication leaders must overcome. You have to implement plans to help you rise above change resistance and change fatigue into strengths. Here are some tips to ensure that, while change is unavoidable, change fatigue can surely be avoided.

Signs of Change Fatigue
To see if your employees are suffering from change fatigue, you can look out for warning signs—disengagement, stress, burnout.

Beating Change Fatigue
Adopt these communication strategies to address change fatigue and deliver successful change programs at your workplace.

Build Change Resilience
The best way to support employees against fear of change is to build confidence and trust. A negative response is natural, but it can be overcome with a strong positive mindset. You should start building change resilience as soon as you can. Allow your employees to get used to it by openly talking and sharing posts about your change initiatives—even the smallest ones. Show them that the change is positive and not be afraid of it and that they will be part of the change, all the way. Slowly building trust this way enhances employee well-being and reduces the propensity for staff to exaggerate negative aspects of the change.

Apply a Communication Plan
Communication can influence successful transformation in a big way. Employees are 8 times more likely to report a successful outcome in organizations that talk about their change steps openly. So, to ensure successful results, you must transparent for every change initiative that you plan. Build a formal communication strategy to ensure that no one is overlooked. Leaders who listen to employees during change initiatives give them a voice that promotes understanding, trust and a stronger willingness to adapt to changes.

Visualize the Future State
Don’t concentrate on the change process, but focus your envisaged outcome. When the journey is long and an involved one, there is a greater chance of losing sight of the destination. So, it is important to promote the final outcome, especially in your leadership communications. Sell the positive outcome—not the change. Encourage employees to visualize the outcome. Use visual representations to increase positive perspectives and reduce the uncertainty that undermines employees’ willingness to accept change. Displaying a clear and intended outcome that can be understood by everyone will help you to implement change successfully. It also lowers the risk of change fatigue.

Improve Employee Engagement
Workplaces with low morale are likely to face more change fatigue of their employees. Employees who are often disconnected with the company feel they are on their way out, or are looking for change. Their lack of involvement can breed isolation, which is difficult to fix. Business leaders show that culture is the biggest barrier to change. So, an experienced programmer can promote a strong company culture. Find options to engage staff in areas related—as well as unrelated—to their roles, celebrate individual and team successes and build ties through employee engagement apps. Enhancing employee engagement can encourage change activists whose positivity can further influence co-workers and boost employee sentiment on the whole.

Mend the Important Aspects
Trying to mend the reasons for employee change fatigue is admirable. But address those that are important to the staff. There are several tools available for this. Analyzing the sentiments shared over the Internet social media channels, employee surveys and anonymous staff interviews—all these can offer valuable insights. Use the results for communication activities and to address the issues before they become too huge to handle.