Change Fatigue in Crisis-Plagued Organizations

Organizations were changing rapidly before the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of that change was strategically planned and implemented with sound foundations from research, benchmarking, and assessment. However, the past few months have seen a totally new level of change, stress, and anxiety present in organizations globally. The changes are frequent, rapid, and based on guidelines that have a lot of grey area and contradiction. The locus of control for change is no longer within the organization, but subject to significant government oversight, customer fear, and the as-yet uncontrolled spread of a deadly virus. Many of us feel like the world is spinning and we have no way to stop it or slow it down. 

As we continue to adapt to the conditions of the world, many of us will begin to feel change fatigue at work. Our procedures, priorities, and goals have changed as organizations adapt as well. As leaders, we must be concerned with change fatigue in employees and in ourselves. Being inundated with change outside of work means we have even less bandwidth for change in our working lives. Addressing change fatigue early and taking active steps to mitigate it will help organizations thrive in what are sure to be ever changing circumstances for the coming months. 

Change fatigue is not clearly defined in the literature, but several authors hit on different aspects. Change fatigue can be understood as mental exhaustion, apathy, and other negative feelings at work, stemming from the pace, frequency, and type of change a person experiences as part of an organization. In an article for Industrial Management in 2016, Jean Ann Larson succinctly describes change fatigue as “a sense of apathy or passive resignation toward organizational changes” (p. 3). Change fatigue is an individual experience and doesn’t characterize an entire organization, but it can be felt in employees and have far-reaching effects on their organizational commitment, intent to turnover, and actual turnover rates. 

Change fatigue is different from burnout, but they have similar root causes and outcomes. Burnout and change fatigue are both characterized by lack of motivation, decreased organizational commitment, and apathy. However, burnout is usually the result of too high a workload, poor management, and a lack of rest time. Burnout can be addressed with better time management, more breaks, and investing time into personal wellness. Change fatigue, in contrast, is about individual reactions to organizational changes. Many strategies for managing burnout can also help address change fatigue in employees. 

Some employees will develop change resistance when projects continue to fail or aren’t actualized. Understanding the roots of change resistance can also point you to the direction of solutions to change fatigue. Resistance to change is not a workplace-only behavior. Many of us resist newness because it alters our day-to-day routine or forces us to adapt to new routines, patterns, or processes. Processing newness in a working environment takes significant mental space, and can impact our confidence, comfort, and sense of control (Larson, 2016). We may also feel less competent in new situations, especially when an initiative drastically shifts our scope or responsibilities. These feelings of discomfort and lack of control can lead to resentment and apathy, damaging an employee’s ability to commit to a change project. Designing your change strategies to address these feelings goes a long way to preventing change fatigue and resistance. Special attention should be made during extreme periods of change, like we are currently living through, because our capacity for handling change will be diminished by the pervasive fear and anxiety of daily routines. 

Since change fatigue is an individual experience, it’s symptoms and causes can be individual as well. The research points to unfocused, uninspired, disjointed, and unsuccessful previous change projects as a primary cause. Think about your own work experience- you are more likely to be jaded by another change project if it feels like a vanity project that doesn’t have value; or if it’s competing with three other change projects you are currently a part of; or if the last change initiative was a disaster. Organization leaders have to stay focused and take the time to do change initiatives right if they want to avoid personnel pitfalls like change fatigue. 

Addressing Change Fatigue

The first step to addressing change fatigue is to take a critical look to previous change initiatives. Leaders should have a clear understanding of which change projects worked in the past and where previous projects went wrong. If communication is the issue, the consultant should know and have additional communication items built in. If accountability to new processes is an issue, ensure that management has proper training on the process and that they have the skills to conduct employee performance conversations when expectations aren’t met. 

This should also involve a critical, honest look at the leadership team. Is the entire leadership team on the same page? Is everyone committed to the priorities? If your employees are being inundated by change projects from different leaders who are competing or not communicating, the amount of change will become overwhelming and employees will not know which projects are priorities (Larson, 2016). The leadership of an organization must set a good example and model how change initiatives should be conducted and received. Clearly communicate which projects are being given priority and sequence multiple projects logically.

If your employees are already fatigued, scale back lower priority changes and focus on building trust and goodwill before embarking on larger initiatives. Look to your employee satisfaction data for indicators of how your team currently feels about change to see if they’re ready to take on another initiative. In our extreme change times, delay change projects that will take care and focus away from initiatives that support employees and their wellbeing. 

Preventing Change Fatigue

In order to prevent change fatigue, especially in organizations that rely on constant innovation or are experiencing change from external sources, employees’ capacity for change must be considered carefully. Change fatigue is an individual experience, but should be addressed at the organization, team, and individual levels. 

As an Organization, Think Several Steps Ahead. Well-planned change projects must include several mitigation strategies for change fatigue. Wozniak and colleagues (2020) studied how nursing teams respond to new protocols for treating post-op patients. In a high-stress and high-change environment like a hospital, commitment to change is essential to provide the best patient care. The researchers found that change initiatives could be well received and executed when certain benchmarks were met. They suggest that when you’re embarking on a new change initiative, make sure you give consideration to the following: 

Know the why. Employees should clearly understand why the change is necessary and the benefits it will produce, and how the change will better align work products or policies with organizational values.

Well-resourced. Everyone should have the appropriate human and financial resources to succeed. Avoid “piling on” to teams that are already stretched. Explain how change projects will improve their working environment, not add additional tasks or steps unnecessarily. 

Prioritize. Sequence change initiatives instead of stacking them. 

Ownership. Address baseline confusion about project ownership and proactively address territory issues between teams. Communicate clearly where authority lies in the project team and who has the final say. 

As a Team, Pilot the Initiative: Consider piloting your change project with teams that indicate they are open to new experiences. These teams are likely to receive change initiatives more positively. Colin Barrow in The 30 Day MBA calls these individuals Early Adopters. That label is not just for segmenting marketing groups, but also for individuals in your organization. Pilot teams can also give you feedback about the initiative so improvements can be made before scaling up. Then, they can be cheerleaders and helpers for the full rollout. 

For the Employee, Emphasize Resilience: Resilient employees can handle change, as well as other stressors that lead to burnout and dissatisfaction, much better than their less-resilient peers (Heitler, 2020; Pogosyan, 2019). Resilience is a quality you can seek in employees. It involves grit, but also the knowledge of how and where to seek support and resources. Employees who are resilient also have a strong sense of self, practice positive thinking, and understand their scope of control. Resilience is also an individual practice. Consider including resilience workshops and training for new hires, especially before and during change projects.