Leveraging behavioral science and AI to drive
change initiatives is key to higher, better, faster returns
According to a new report from Accenture (NYSE:ACN), the vast
majority of global organizations (96%) are planning to invest more
than 5% of their total revenues in change initiatives over the next
three years—up from 31% planning this level of investment just
three years ago. At the same time, research indicates that a
relatively small proportion of companies have actually mastered the
ability to achieve significant value and impact from change
initiatives. Amidst radical shifts in ways of working, changes in
technology including generative AI, and the constant potential for
unforeseeable disruption, the ability to effectively navigate and
measure change has become a critical competency for C-suite
leaders.
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According to a new report from Accenture,
the vast majority of global organizations (96%) are planning to
invest more than 5% of their total revenues in change initiatives
over the next three years—up from 31% planning this level of
investment just three years ago. (Graphic: Business Wire)
New research from Accenture suggests that there is a critical
gap between confidence and ambition. Only 30% of C-suite leaders
are confident in their change capabilities, despite 100% of them
anticipating changes to their workforce. As business leaders are
increasingly committed to driving reinvention across the
enterprise, Accenture’s latest report underscores the value of
building continuous change capabilities for achieving more
predictable, positive impact across the business.
The report, “Change Reinvented: A New Blueprint for Continuous,
Meaningful, Successful Change,” reveals key facets of what drives
successful change, providing a clear blueprint that links the
maturity of change capabilities with value delivered through
transformation programs, allowing leaders to build and improve
their change capabilities in a systematic manner.
The key to navigating change successfully, according to the
report from Accenture, lies in embracing six capabilities of
continuous change that high-performing organizations apply
consistently to realize positive outcomes for the business and its
people. These capabilities include Foundations, or proven practices
known to drive success, as well as Innovations—areas of new
thinking and practice enabled by technology, data and AI that are
focused on turning insights into action. Together, these
capabilities form the foundation of Accenture’s Change Capability
Quotient, a robust method that codifies the practice of continuous
change and, using data to predict the likelihood of successful
change efforts, establishes a connection between the maturity of
change capability and performance.
Accenture’s latest research found that by increasing the
maturity of change practices outlined in this blueprint,
organizations can transform into dynamic, resilient entities
capable of outperforming expectations and achieving meaningful
results. These high-scoring organizations are 2.1x more likely to
report successful transformations. And, regardless of sector or
size, achieve higher, better, faster returns on their change
investments—from increased productivity and cost savings, to
lasting benefits and improvements in sustainability targets, to
leaving their employees feeling Net Better Off. Yet only 16% of the
1,000 organizations surveyed are implementing all six capabilities
of change at scale—suggesting there’s more work to be done.
“The business context continues to evolve at an unprecedented
pace and the need for a more systematic and evidence-based approach
to change is clear. Today, all leaders need to be successful at
leading change in order to develop culture and activate
strategy—it's fundamental to growth, resilience and innovation,”
said Karalee Close, global lead of Talent & Organization at
Accenture. “What’s interesting about this research is that it
demonstrates the link between change capabilities and successful
outcomes. It’s not just about keeping up—it's about creating
positive change to get ahead. Only by approaching change less as an
art driven by intuition and more as a science backed by data and
evidence, can organizations navigate the complexities of modern
reinvention.”
In fact, an organization’s ability to drive successful change is
fundamental for reinvention. Accenture previously found that the 9%
of organizations with the strongest capability to continuously
reinvent, identified as Reinventors, are embedding change as a core
competency.
While leading C-suite executives recognize the need to master
continuous change to get ahead, it’s easier said than done. Common
obstacles on any change journey tend to fall between the insights
needed to justify change and the actions needed to put them into
practice. For example, managers are twice as likely as the C-suite
to think change is happening too fast. Lack of trust is also an
issue, with only 25% of leaders confident in their team’s
readiness, and 42% of employees feeling capable of handling
change.
“Companies that embrace reinvention as a strategy—where they
drive a step change in performance through the power of technology,
data and AI and new ways of working—are outperforming the
competition. These organizations have also made change management a
core competency,” said Jack Azagury, group chief executive,
Consulting, Accenture. “Change must be built as a capability to
continuously reinvent and should be part of the organizational DNA.
By leveraging a human-centered and data-led approach to change,
organizations will unlock unprecedented value for all stakeholders
and shape the future of their industries.”
To learn more about how organizations can fully embrace
reinvention by instilling change as a core competency and embedding
it in their DNA with measurable results, read the full report:
Change Reinvented: A New Blueprint for Continuous, Meaningful,
Successful Change.
You can also explore the report Change Reinvented: A New
Blueprint for Continuous, Meaningful, Successful Change using
Accenture’s Foresight app, which provides a personalized feed of
our latest insights, data, case studies, blogs and more. Download
the app here.
About the Research This report’s insights are
anchored in two complementary research approaches: (1) economic
modeling, data science and global surveys to understand the broader
macro, labor and industry trends surrounding organizational change
initiatives and to determine how the dialogue around change has
evolved and the direction in which it is headed; and (2)
experimental and ethnographic techniques to gather diverse
perspectives on the dynamics of change and to analyze the work
experiences, perspectives, opportunities and challenges happening
at the individual employee and organization levels. Collectively,
these survey, interview and other ethnographic approaches yielded
data points from over 1,000 c-suite executives and 5,000 workers
across the same set of companies headquartered in 17 countries and
representing 14 industries.
Please see the Research Methods section of the report for more
information.
About Accenture Accenture is a leading global
professional services company that helps the world’s leading
businesses, governments and other organizations build their digital
core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and
enhance citizen services—creating tangible value at speed and
scale. We are a talent- and innovation-led company with
approximately 750,000 people serving clients in more than 120
countries. Technology is at the core of change today, and we are
one of the world’s leaders in helping drive that change, with
strong ecosystem relationships. We combine our strength in
technology and leadership in cloud, data and AI with unmatched
industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery
capability. We are uniquely able to deliver tangible outcomes
because of our broad range of services, solutions and assets across
Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and
Song. These capabilities, together with our culture of shared
success and commitment to creating 360° value, enable us to help
our clients reinvent and build trusted, lasting relationships. We
measure our success by the 360° value we create for our clients,
each other, our shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at
www.accenture.com.
Copyright © 2024 Accenture. All rights reserved. Accenture and
its logo are trademarks of Accenture.
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Michelle Schneider Accenture +1 412 874 0282
michelle.schneider@accenture.com
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