Measuring change success

I shift in my seat whenever someone says 'that can't be measured' when talking about change management. I come from the school of 'everything is measurable' and I have yet to work on a project or program that I haven't put measures around so we could learn about what worked and what could have been done better.

Why are measures important?

Every time you bring a change into an organisation it is an opportunity to learn and improve. Organisations cannot afford to be stagnant in how they approach change, and the more organisations adopt a growth mindset the more competitive they will become.

Here are some key ways to measure change:

Enquiries and support needed for impacted 'end users' or clients to be able to adopt the change. For example calls to a Help Desk or Call Centre function. This helps you assess how effective training was, how effective the end solution was and how well the communication or campaign was received.

Typically these areas have a code they can apply to your program which makes it easy to pull a report.

Adoption rates and error rates are also good indicators of change. Once again they provide insights into how well training worked or ease of system use. Process error rates when looking at forms being processed - missing information or incomplete forms all assist in measuring adoption by clients or staff.

A tailored survey which asks questions regarding the change. Whether you are holding briefing events, or you are sending out a survey via Microsoft Forms or Survey monkey (both good tools), you should be asking about the performance of change leaders in the organisation, about training, briefings or communication methods.

Create an in person feedback loop - whether it be in person focus groups post go live or team meetings. Gathering anecdotal feedback also assists in improving future programs.

If the change is transformative there will be standard employee engagement surveys which will also provide feedback on your change. I have mentioned this in a previous blog where I led a program whereby employee engagement scores increased amidst times of a restructure. So it is very possible to manage change well in times of discomfort for employees.

Just remember all change is measurable, and if you organisation doesn't currently use these techniques or tools, perhaps it is time to introduce them. After all if you don't learn you don't grow!