Change management drives project benefit realization in most transformations Change management drives project benefit realization in most transformations Change management drives project benefit realization in most transformations

As the heading says, it is a critical tool for value realization in most organizational changes. We see it as a structured and proactive process to lead an organization through a change initiative. Every change, especially the ones that have a strong dependency on people, requires a clear vision, planning and tracking for the business and other benefits to materialize. That’s why change management is an essential part of transformation projects. 

There are organizational changes that are not depended on people. For example, if a company installs automatic lighting or automatic tabs to its office space (a green choice), the change is not depended on people nor change management. But in most cases, change is more complicated, and it requires people to adapt new ways of working or to update their skills. In these cases, successful change is depended on the organization’s people and how they adapt to the new situation. 

On the other end of the spectrum, change can be solely focused on people. For example, in a cultural change, the goal is to influence people’s behaviors and attitudes. The goal could be to evoke innovation, creativeness and self-leadership and organizational ways of working and culture needs supports this shift in order it to be successful. In these types of situations change management is needed to communicate and lead the transformation in a clear and measurable way. The more the change required is depended on people, the more critical it is to focus on change management. 

The first question is: what does the organization want to achieve through the change? After that we start to plan how we can reach that target. Clear vision and ambition are essential.

To begin with, we at KPMG approach change management as a goal-oriented, efficient process that covers every area of change. We work hands on with our customers to ensure that the change will sustain and is rooted in practice. Our framework is widely tested and developed, and it enables systematic and clear human-centric change leadership.

Secondly, I’d like to highlight our broadly skilled change management team. With proper knowledge and tools for change management, e.g. Prosci certification, added to our People & Change team’s broad expertise, we can scale our offering to projects of various sizes and goals. 

Anni is originally from Kuopio. She trusts that most tricky situations can be resolved with a hassle-free Savo attitude. In her free time, she focuses on her two little girls, teaches yoga and makes plans to regenerate a piece of land in Portugal. In fact, in June Anni and her family will organize a permaculture camp, funded by EU, for youngsters to learn about self-development, entrepreneurial mindset, climate impact and a holistic regenerative approach in life.