News & views
Introducing our change team… Meet Sophie.
25 September 2024
Transformation
At CMC, we’re all about delivering long-lasting transformational outcomes to our clients.
We pride ourselves on offering bespoke solutions that focus on both organisational and individual behaviours to ensure that meaningful transformation happens – off the shelf packages and a ‘one size fits all’ just isn’t part of our thinking.
Our highly experienced change team specialise in delivering change, building change capability, managing change portfolios and enabling change leadership. Whether it’s a digital transformation, reorganisation, merger, acquisition or any other complex area of change that impacts people, they make sure that change is not only adopted but embraced, bringing about meaningful and successful transformations.
So, let’s meet one of them…
With a background as both a civil servant and in the armed forces, our principal consultant and employee trustee, Sophie Yarworth is a change champion, with experience of business change, organisational process change and project management across multiple markets.
Here Sophie shares some of her expert insights into building change capability, her three key take-outs for successful organisational transformation and how she makes sure that change lasts for our clients.
Why do you think so many internal projects fail to be successful?
My main takeaway about projects failing is founded in the core elements of business change. In an ideal world, the project would be well sponsored by senior leadership, who are able to explain why the change is required, followed by clear engagement with those impacted, making them part of the change from the start and building up early adoption.
The reality is that there often isn’t enough focus upon the people side of a change, as resource is focused on the technology – this is where building up an internal change capability can really benefit your organisation. Most organisations are short of resource across all aspects of delivery, from business analysis, to business change and engagement, to project management.
Why and how would an organisation build its own change capability?
When an organisation builds its own in-house change capability it is building up resilience to change. Imagine you have a network of people that understand change is constant in business, and know how to react, adapt and increase adoption to maximise the benefits in your projects.
It’s important to understand your organisation’s context and tailor the approach – this means you’re able to change behaviours and build up the right shape of internal change capability to work with your specific types of transformation programmes. You can do this through building knowledge and skills, coaching and mentoring, and preparing your business for carrying this forward with continuous improvement.
Any examples of how you’ve helped develop a client’s internal change capability?
As part of a large government digital transformation, there was a goal to build up change capability as part of a wider PMO service. The following steps created a team of enthusiastic change champions working in a mix of full and part-time roles within the change team. This team were then able to support the wider change portfolio across the business.
- Assess the maturity of change management
- Set up the correct structures and processes for change management processes
- Identify, train and support the key change practitioners
How do you help to make sure that change lasts?
It really comes down to sponsorship and engagement. But to prepare for this you need to first get to grips with the current context of the organisation and the specific change; and then really work with stakeholders to tailor engagements. The key to is to start to change those all-important behaviours throughout the change process, and not just at the end when go-live happens.
What are your 3 key take-outs for successful organisational transformation?
Every organisation is different and has a different culture, so it is vital that you…
- Understand the business. By talking to people and really listening to their problems you can tailor the change, and help them to work through any perceived resistance.
- Engage and support people to understand the change process. This makes it less scary and maximises buy-in.
- Champion transparency and keep clarity around the need for the change. This helps people to understand the benefits for them and the organisation.
