Article Summary
What causes change fatigue—and why it matters to employee engagement, retention, and performance.
The crucial role of managers as resilience builders, supporting autonomy and team adaptability.
Practical strategies for building change-ready teams, including open-source change planning, employee involvement, and proactive rest.
Change is now a constant in the workplace. From rapid technological advancements to shifting market conditions organisations are under relentless pressure to adapt. However, the speed and frequency of these shifts are taking a toll.
A Gartner survey highlights a sharp decline in employee willingness to support enterprise change, dropping from 74% in 2016 to just 38% in 2022. The average employee experiences 10 planned enterprise changes a year and they are getting fatigued. Moreover only 43% of employees who experience above-average change fatigue intend to stay with their organisation, compared with 74% of employees with low levels of fatigue.1
Even tools designed to simplify work are contributing to the issue. Employees now use twice as many work apps as they did just a year ago and, rather than streamlining processes, these tools often amplify feelings of overwhelm. Gartner aptly describes this phenomenon as the need for ‘fatigue management’, a new change management muscle that executives must build.
One promising strategy is to reimagine the role of managers. Instead of positioning managers as champions of every organisational change, leaders can empower them to act as resilience builders, equipping their teams with the skills and mindset to adapt autonomously.
The impact of change fatigue
Change fatigue occurs when employees become exhausted by the constant demands of organisational transformation. It often leads to disengagement, reduced productivity and burnout. For organisations the costs are significant, not only in lost performance but also in turnover and reduced morale.
This fatigue has become a widespread challenge in the modern workplace. New tools, systems and processes are introduced at a relentless pace, requiring employees to continuously adapt and learn. At the same time organisations are undergoing frequent restructuring, digital transformations and strategy shifts, leaving employees with little time to adjust before another change is implemented. This unrelenting cycle of change can quickly overwhelm even the most resilient teams.
Adding to this strain is the sheer volume of changes employees are expected to navigate simultaneously, often on top of already demanding workloads. Many employees feel stretched thin, making it harder to absorb and adapt to new initiatives. The situation is further exacerbated by the ambiguity of outcomes; when changes fail to deliver clear benefits or improvements employees may feel their efforts are futile, leading to disengagement and scepticism. Together, these factors contribute to an environment where change is not only frequent but exhausting, underscoring the need for organisations to adopt more thoughtful and supportive approaches to managing transitions.
The Gartner survey illustrates the growing severity of this issue. Employees are not just resisting change, they are struggling to keep up with its pace. Addressing change fatigue requires a fundamental shift in how organisations approach change, focusing on building resilience at both individual and team levels.
We invest in people
3-YEAR PEOPLE MANAGEMENT ACCREDITATION
Understand your organisation’s performance by leading, supporting and improving your people & strategy!
Assess how your organisation is performing against our framework – focusing on employee engagement, communication, organisational culture, and work practices.
Why managers are key to resilience
Managers are uniquely positioned to influence how employees perceive and respond to change. They serve as a bridge between leadership and frontline teams, translating strategic initiatives into actionable steps. When managers act as resilience builders they help their teams navigate change more effectively, fostering an environment where employees feel supported and capable.
Resilience-focused managers can drive significant improvements in performance and adaptability. Managers who use strong and clear leadership practices can encourage accountability across the entire team. A good leader plays a key role in setting the right expectations and creating an environment where the team stays focused on improving both individual and collective performance. This involves helping team members develop the skills and behaviours needed to succeed and continuously improve.
Additionally, it’s important for leaders to foster a culture where conflicts are seen as opportunities for growth and innovation, rather than something to avoid. This approach helps strengthen the team and improve project outcomes.2
Gartner suggests that organisations should implement what it calls an ‘open-source’ change strategy, which it describes as “one that is less prescriptive than top-down approaches and more collaborative, involving employees throughout the process instead of simply telling them what will happen.”
According to the consultancy, organisations that implement open-source change strategies are 14 times more likely to achieve change success. Such organisations see the risk of change fatigue in their employees fall by 29 percentage points and the intent to stay increase by as much as 19 percentage points, the consultancy says.
By equipping their teams with the tools and autonomy to manage change managers create such a culture of trust and empowerment, reducing the emotional toll of constant organisational transformation.
How to help managers build resilience
Organisational leaders play a crucial role in enabling managers to support their teams through change. Here are some practical strategies to empower managers as resilience builders:
#1
Provide clarity and focus
Ambiguity is a major driver of change fatigue. Managers need clear guidance on organisational priorities so that they can effectively communicate these to their teams. Equip managers with a change roadmap that outlines the purpose, scope and expected outcomes of each initiative. This helps them align their teams’ efforts with organisational goals.
#2
Equip managers to communicate change transparently and timely
Train managers to deliver clear and consistent messages about changes, ensuring that their teams understand the why, what and how behind each initiative. Encourage managers to hold regular team check-ins to maintain open, honest and ongoing dialogue with employees to address concerns, share updates and ensure understanding of the change
#3
Involve employees in decision-making
Help managers to empower team members to contribute ideas and insights during the decision-making process, ensuring that their voices are heard in ways that are strategic and impactful. Identify smaller groups of employees with relevant expertise or perspectives and engage them in discussions about upcoming changes. Use criteria like role, experience or department to determine who should participate. Managers who involve employees in this way build trust and reduce resistance by making team members feel they are part of the solution, not just recipients of decisions.
#4
Shift implementation planning to employees
Managers should guide employees to take ownership of how change initiatives are implemented in their workflows, empowering them to create practical and relevant plans. Managers act as a facilitator, not a dictator, by supporting teams as they brainstorm implementation strategies, offering guidance when needed but allowing employees to lead the process.
#5
Help managers measure and capture the benefits of change
Provide managers with tools to track the impact of changes within their teams, such as performance metrics, team feedback surveys or success stories. Guide managers on how to share these results with their teams, highlighting the positive outcomes and reinforcing the value of their efforts.
#6
Empower managers to share successes and failures
Encourage managers to lead by example, openly discussing what worked and what didn’t in change initiatives, showing vulnerability and promoting a learning culture. Support managers in creating a safe space for their teams to share their own experiences with change, fostering trust and collaboration.
#7
Support managers in selecting and developing change champions
Help managers identify team members with a positive mindset and strong influence to act as change champions. Offer guidance and resources to managers on mentoring these champions, equipping them to support their peers and strengthen team engagement.
How to help managers build resilience
Organisational leaders play a crucial role in enabling managers to support their teams through change. Here are some practical strategies to empower managers as resilience builders:
Conclusion
Change is inevitable but its impact doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By focusing on resilience, organisations can turn change into an opportunity for growth rather than a source of fatigue.
Managers play a pivotal role in organisational transformation, acting as resilience builders who empower their teams to navigate change with confidence and autonomy. They can normalise change by integrating it into team routines and reinforcing the fact that adaptation is part of everyday work. But it’s also important that managers build in periods of proactive rest to sustain change energy. According to Gartner research, rest that is available, accessible and appropriate contributes to a 26% increase in employee performance and a tenfold reduction in the number of employees experiencing burnout.3
For more help on developing a human-centric change management strategy IIP’s We invest in people framework offers a valuable roadmap, emphasising the importance of trust, empowerment and continuous improvement.
Never Miss an Update!
Stay informed with the latest resources, research and news from Investors in People, as well as practical tips and real-world success stories from our community – Subscribe today!
Sources
- This New Strategy Could Be Your Ticket to Change Management Success ,Gartner https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/this-new-strategy-could-be-your-ticket-to-change-management-success
- João Varajão, Gabriela Fernandes, António Amaral, A. Manuela Gonçalves, Team Resilience Model: An Empirical Examination of Information Systems Projects, Reliability Engineering & System Safety,
Volume 206, 2021, 107303, ISSN 0951-8320, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress.2020.107303.
- Employees Are Losing Patience with Change Initiatives https://hbr.org/2023/05/employees-are-losing-patience-with-change-initiatives
