Employee preferences in preparing for a change - A case study of strategic project implementations

Abstract: As market conditions constantly change in today's competitive landscape, businesses must invest in organizational changes to stay relevant. Despite the high frequency of change projects worldwide, multiple sources state that 70% of all change projects fail. Consequently, change management has become a highly researched area to understand and propose strategies to organizations to increase the chance for successful change implementation. The literature reviewed in this study indicated a gap in current research in understanding the feasibility of managerial strategies and employee preferences. Therefore, the research purpose was to address what preferences can be identified amongst the employees and when assessing the appropriate timing for incorporating employee preferences throughout the implementation stage of a change project. To provide practical implications to managers, the research question addressed was formulated as “How do management utilize employee preferences in preparing for a strategic change project?" To address the research question and purpose, the study conducted an employee survey to identify employee preferences in a strategic change project. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with first-line managers to evaluate their current strategies in change projects. The sample consisted of employees and managers from a large 200-year-old multinational organization in finance. The study indicated that employees and managers preferred transparent and frequent communication. However, employees highlighted that the possibility to provide feedback and input was higher than the ability to impact the change project. This discrepancy indicates a misalignment of whether the feedback and input can reach the project leaders or if the preferences are neglected for other reasons. To address the appropriate timing of when management could consider employee preferences, a framework has been developed in relation to the data collected and best practices according to the literature reviewed. The framework proposes a practical implication to management when preferences are to be considered in terms of what type of change project is performed to increase the likelihood of the change project implementation.