Measuring and reporting on change management

Measuring change management is essential for enhancing effectiveness, optimizing resources, demonstrating accountability and transparency, and achieving successful and sustainable transformations.

The State of Change Management in the UN System reveals that change management practitioners with certifications are more likely to meaningfully measure change management and its effectiveness. It also demonstrates a significant appetite for this by most practitioners across UN entities. However, survey results also expose the propensity to report on traditional process indicators at the expense of more meaningful, outcome-oriented and industry-used indicators.

Discrepancies in answers across UN change management practitioners may be the product of differences in ontology and concept definitions, highlighting the need for more conversations and greater sector-wide understanding and consistency.

What is being measured
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Key aspects of measuring change are change management performance, individual performance, organizational performance and culture change. When asked how often these four key aspects are measured, a high number of survey participants indicate their organization rarely or never measures them. A majority of respondents indicate their organization rarely or never measures individual performance (55 per cent), while a significant number of respondents report their organization rarely or never measures culture and culture change (48 per cent) or change management performance (43 per cent). Almost a third of respondents (32 per cent) rarely or never measure organizational performance. Conversely, very few say those aspects are often or always measured. 

Notably, a professional change management certification seems to significantly impact the likelihood of meaningful, industry-used measurement:

  • certified participants are almost five times likelier to often or always measure change management performance than non-certified participants (39 per cent vs 8 per cent);
  • the number of certified participants who often or always measure organizational performance is double that of non-certified participants (33 per cent vs 16 per cent);
  • the number of certified participants who often or always measure individual performance is double that of non-certified participants (20 per cent vs 10 per cent);
  • and while non-certified participants slightly edge out certified participants in often or always measuring organizational culture and culture change (14.5 per cent vs 12 per cent), certified participants are still more likely to sometimes measure it (27 per cent vs 19 per cent).

 

Click here to learn more about these four aspects and the indicators used to measure them [note: link to be added]. 

What else is measured?
(n=35)

In an optional open-ended question, participants were asked what else they measure in addition to the industry standards which are organizational performance, individual performance, change management performance and organizational culture. 

Some respondents noted the absence of change management measurement. One candidly stated that “my sense is that we focus on the wrong things. We measure what's easy to 'count' - but I am not convinced what we can count, counts". 

Other responses fanned out widely. They included outreach activities, training attendance and activities, culture change, sentiment and end-user attitudes, cost efficiency, budget utilization, implementation, project KPIs, organizational KPIs, process-level improvements, end-user adoption, and leadership culture. 

Many of these responses highlight an unfamiliarity with industry standards of some change management practitioners across UN entities. Most indicators listed belong to the categories of organizational performance, individual performance, change management performance and organizational culture.

What isn't measured that you would like measured?
(n=34)

Responses to this optional open-ended question ran the gamut of indicators of change and change management, many of which are included in the previous questions.

Outcomes/impact and process/efficiency/activities are the indicators most mentioned, by nine participants, followed by change adoption/behavioral change from five participants. Cost, organizational culture, and readiness for change are on the wish list of three participants. Other desired measurements include a full suite of monitoring and evaluation, user experience and stakeholder perception, organizational maturity, productivity, and staff engagement pre- and post-change. One participant expressed interest in measuring the same metrics as others.

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What are respondents asked to report on?

Survey participants were probed about their reporting requirements through a multiple-choice question containing the same industry standards of measurement as above, in addition to more traditional process indicators. 

Most participants (60 per cent) indicate being asked to report on the traditional process indicator of training participation and attendance measures. More than double the number of participants have been asked to report on industry standards of organizational performance (28 per cent), individual performance (26 per cent) or change management performance or organizational culture, both at 25%. Almost half say they are asked to report on the number and/or frequency of change management activities (49 per cent) and more than two-thirds say they collect information on change management activity effectiveness (39 per cent). 

Only a few participants leveraged the opportunity to add “other” responses, further highlighting the emphasis on process measurements.

Once again, responses from certified change management practitioners differ significantly from those from their uncertified counterparts. Certified participants are more likely to be asked to report on change management-related areas. In contrast, uncertified participants are asked to report more on individual performance and training participation. For instance: 

  • certified participants are more likely to report on change management performance (55 per cent) and change management activity effectiveness (67 per cent);
  • uncertified participants are more likely to be asked to report more on individual performance (31 per cent) and training participation and attendance measures (63 per cent);
  • a similar proportion of certified (27 per cent) and uncertified participants (29 per cent) has been asked to report on organizational performance;
  • nearly a quarter of both groups has been asked to report on organizational culture, with 24 per cent of certified and 26 per cent of uncertified participants.

Taken together with responses to the question "what is measured", responses to what survey participants are being asked to report on illustrate the inconsistencies in understanding and measuring change management.