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Entrepreneur
03-07-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Most Change Efforts Fail. Here's How to Make Yours Stick.
You have a great deal of influence over how you and your team navigate through change initiatives. Coaching methodologies can support change management success. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. It's commonly cited by now that in the modern workplace, as much as 70% of change initiatives fall short. And yet, we are facing more rapid change in the workplace than ever before, and entrepreneurs in particular face a unique set of challenges amid these upheavals. You may very well feel fatigued from it all — and surely your team does, too! Personally, to think that our efforts to adapt to these changes are likely to fall short makes me even more jaded. But change is more than a hassle, and can even bring a lot of good with it — it keeps a business adapting to the shifts in the broader world, brings in new tools and helps to advance talent development and retention. Fortunately, as an entrepreneur, you have a great deal of influence over how you and your team navigate through change initiatives, and there are proven methodologies that can support change management success. In particular, my team at the International Coaching Federation (ICF) has worked in close collaboration with the Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP) to develop a change management model that integrates coaching into the process. Related: 3 Keys to Successful Change Management As the leader of a global organization who works with coaches and has undergone coach training myself, here are the key factors I have seen that support change management success, built upon a coach approach and informed by ICF's 30 years of defining the profession's best practices: 1. Set a foundation of inclusivity As the leader, it is not your job to have all the answers, only to facilitate your team in finding them. So as challenges and needs for change arise, actively engage your employees in the problem-solving and change-planning processes. This might take place through meetings, information conversations, focus groups, advisory panels, surveys or other methods. Doing so will address existing and potential resistance. It will also provide a space to explore any concerns associated with the change and how those potential challenges can be mitigated. Not only are team members more likely to support a change initiative when they feel their voice has been heard, but also, solutions that take the full team's roles, needs and perspectives into consideration are much more likely to be effective. Related: Here's How a Lack of Inclusivity Can Create a Toxic Culture 2. Invest in building trust Trust between the leader and team is crucial for the change to be received well. Our brains are wired to seek stability in everything. This involves acknowledging concerns, being transparent and fostering an environment where employees feel safe. Actively listening and seeking feedback also demonstrates that you have a genuine interest in your employees, helping to build a rapport and relationship between leader and team. But note: This investment in building trust must be made as a matter of routine, during calmer times, so that it is already fortified when it undergoes the stress test of change management. 3. Be clear about goals It just makes sense: When implementing a new change management initiative, you will get the best results by being clear and specific in your communications to your team, so they understand why this effort is important and what you hope the outcome will be. Take the time to discuss the rationale behind the change and how it will benefit the team and the organization overall. Share information candidly, even when it's not good news. Admit your faults and be upfront about challenges. When you can all come together with transparency, you are all in a better position to problem-solve to reach the initiative's goals. Good communication also prevents gossip, speculation and misunderstandings that can create a divide between members of the team who view a specific change and its impacts differently. As the change initiative is underway, don't forget to share updates and adjustments made to the plan so that everyone still feels included. Related: The Most Successful Founders Take Retreats — Here's Why You Should, Too 4. Monitor and evaluate Track progress and frequently assess the effectiveness of change management initiatives. Change management plans can, well, change, so allow for deviation and continuous improvement. If something isn't working, reassess and adapt. After implementation, conduct a comprehensive review of the change initiative to calculate its success and identify areas for improvement. A coach approach will fortify your change management results Change can be continuous and inevitable, especially in startups. But it can also breed challenges such as personal resistance to change, poor communication and a breakdown of trust between leader and team. With these pillars, entrepreneurs can prioritize strong change management processes to mitigate these risks. Coaching for the leader can also foster a positive and thoughtful approach to change management. Include your team and stakeholders in the change management initiative. Candidly communicate the rationale and process behind the change. Build trust among your team. Doing so will guide your employees through these transitions, minimize disruption and maximize success. Change can be hard, but manage it well, and it will all be worth it in the end.
Daily Maverick
28-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
From security guard to manager: How one man's rise shows the power of education to liberate potential
Future success is linked to education. But with only four out of every 100 children who start school going on to get a degree within six years of matric, we urgently need new approaches to education and skills development in South Africa and Henley Business School Africa and its corporate partners are leading the way. Joseph Tsolo's life-altering transition from security guard to junior manager is a masterclass in perseverance and dreaming big. A beneficiary of a workplace skills development initiative, Tsolo's ebullient rise through the ranks also showcases exactly why South African corporates need to embrace more practical and effective ways to unleash the country's talent. 'Recognising my potential, my manager suggested that I enrich my practical experience by studying at a business school,' says Tsolo. 'I eagerly embarked on a journey of continuous learning, starting with a Higher Certificate in Management Practice (HCMP) and, a year later, enrolled on the diploma-level Advanced Certificate in Management Practice (ACMP). Graduating with my ACMP is a milestone that fills me with immense pride, as I was the first in my family to graduate with a diploma.' When one plus one adds up to thousands of capable managers Tsolo's is a story that would not have been possible without a very special partnership between his employer, Hollard Insurance, and Henley Business School Africa. Henley is a global business school, part of the University of Reading, with campuses in the UK, Europe – and Johannesburg – and it is the only international business school in South Africa that has developed a full ladder of accredited programmes (from NQF 5 up to NQF 8) that, while open to individual learners for 'open enrolment', can also be customised by clients like Hollard to make sure they are speaking directly to the needs of that organisation. 'This means that ambitious young South Africans like Tsolo, who have heaps of practical experience, natural talent, and enthusiasm but lack a formal qualification perhaps because they didn't have funds to study or had to get a job to support their families or didn't get a good enough matric to study further, have a second shot at getting the qualifications they need to get ahead,' says Jon Foster-Pedley, dean and director of Henley Business School Africa. Unleashing learning on a massive scale without losing the personal touch In South Africa, where there is already a backlog of education and dearth of opportunities, workplace learning on a massive scale, without losing the personal touch holds the key to unleashing the country's talent, believes Foster-Pedley. ' Research by the University of Stellenbosch's Nic Spaul l suggests that, on average, out of 100 children who start grade 1, just six will get some kind of qualification within six years of matric, and just four will complete a formal degree. This is woefully inadequate when you consider that in advanced economies like the UK or Finland, the numbers of formal degrees are above 50 per 100 children who start school. 'It is only through one-on-one partnerships between the likes of Henley and committed corporate citizens that we can start to change the odds decisively. Each year, Henley graduates upwards of 2,000 capable managers and leaders who go into South African workplaces to make a difference and add value. Many of these are through our Executive Education programmes.' A journey that starts with self-discovery and ends with practical application 'Like it or not, future success is linked to further education, and we need a revolution in how we think about education and training to ensure that working South Africans can make headway in a complexifying world,' says Jon Foster-Pedley, 'While getting a degree or a diploma is by no means the only route to success in life, studying further is correlated with productivity and economic growth, better social outcomes, and human happiness. ' However, it's not just about getting more people to get degrees, he cautions. It is also about changing the way people learn. Foster-Pedley points out that we live in a world that is dramatically different from the one for which most institutions of higher learning are geared to prepare their students. 'The latest Future of Jobs report from the World Economic Forum estimates that by 2030 almost 40% of skill requirements will have changed,' he says. 'That changes the way people think about how to study and gain the skills they need to get ahead. We need to make sure that the skills we are gaining will remain useful and we need to find ways to learn continuously so our skills can be refreshed.' Lolly Gwabavu, the group head of Leadership Development at Nedbank and a Henley client, believes that a key part of this lies in lifelong learning and developing yourself as well as your skills. She says that the starting point for any leadership development journey lies in personal mastery. After all, leaders must first understand how to lead themselves before they lead others. Through her work with Henley, Gwabavu is developing emerging leaders identified through the bank's established talent management structures. 'One of the positives about Nedbank is that we believe everyone has the ability to be a leader. Leadership is not a position or a title, it's a disposition.' According to Linda Buckley, Pro-Dean of Teaching, Learning and Student Experience at Henley Business School Africa, another vital element to improving educational outcomes in South Africa is to ensure that learning in the classroom is closely aligned with practice. All Henley students are given ample opportunity to apply what they are learning as they are learning it, with many clients coming up with highly innovative solutions to achieve this. For example, one client, Bryte Insurance, through the Bryte Academy, recently created a shadow board (NextCo) that allows young talent within the business to make a contribution at the highest level. Tebogo Baloyi, Head of HR at Bryte Insurance, explains: 'We want diverse thinking in how we approach projects and strategic initiatives, and we want to hear the voice of our younger generation. So, NextCo is the practical experience that allows talented individuals to shine even more and get more exposure to projects. The shadow ExCo also sits like an ExCo; they are mapped to a portfolio and will be given real projects to execute as a team.' Employers recognise and value what Henley can do for them Henley's work in the skills development space is recognised globally. It's listed among the Top 30 business schools in the world in the Financial Times 2024 ranking of Executive Education programmes, scoring top in the world for Faculty Diversity in the same ranking. This makes Henley the highest ranked international business school with a campus in Africa, offering in-house corporate education to clients – an important third-party endorsement. Specific Henley programmes have also won awards. In 2022, Henley and Standard Bank won a talent development award from the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) for a customised leadership development programme called 'Acceleration', part of the bank's transformation strategy to develop African leaders. 'The impact of what we discovered was greater than we could ever have imagined,' says Standard Bank executive Mei-lene Els. Of 40 people on the 'Acceleration' programme, 13 were promoted into senior leadership roles. Of these, 40% were black women. 'Employers recognise and value what Henley graduates can do for them,' says Buckley. 'Education is ultimately about change, and South Africa's employers see first-hand how Henley's graduates are personally transformed and go on to transform their workplaces, creating new value. 'We make sure we stay up to date with emerging trends by continuously finding ways to adapt our programmes to the current business environment. This includes making use of virtual and augmented reality, experiential immersions and global perspectives. We aim to create new and unique simulations for current and future-focused learning that capture the rapid acceleration of today's technological world.' DM
