Successful transformation efforts—large-scale efforts to achieve substantial, sustainable changes in performance—require deep collaboration. At a time when the rate of transformation seems likely only to accelerate, the secret to getting and maintaining an engaged organization while combating transformation fatigue lies with empowering the individuals directly involved as well as the broader organization. After all, while most organizations involve just 2 percent of employees in transformation efforts, we know the highest TSR comes when up to 30 percent of workers take key roles.1
Empowering people individually and collectively engaging organizations were common themes among leaders attending McKinsey’s European Transformation Summit, Navigating headwinds and accelerating sustainable change: Finding the balance for resilient transformations. (For more on the event, see sidebar, “About McKinsey’s European Transformation Summit.”) Attendees provided insight into success factors for engaging the organization while focusing directly on the individuals involved in transformation efforts.
Engaging the organization
Transformation efforts are central to renewing organizations and maintaining dynamism in a constantly changing business environment. Ensuring organizational engagement is essential. Attendees highlighted two key factors in this regard: creating a compelling change story and engaging a critical mass of employees.
- Articulate a compelling change story. While the narrative should relate to quantitative and qualitative business objectives, it should be anchored on purpose and personal motivation, because this demonstrates authenticity and vulnerability from leadership. By approaching communication from this perspective, the leader of one organization found his workforce willing to listen to, understand, and embrace the transformation objectives. “Everybody walked out with the sense it was a good thing,” he said of a meeting during which thousands of staff were advised of a major restructuring.
- Involve a significant share of employees in the process. In our experience, engaging 15 to 20 percent of a company’s employees in transformation efforts via a rotation program can help embed rigor and routine. Such programs contribute to broader support, prevent change fatigue, help introduce fresh voices to continually generate ideas, and bring critical real-world experience to a process that often focuses heavily on data. A transformation manager at a farming cooperative said combining insights from the on-the-job experience of hundreds of frontline workers with data-based approaches made employees feel heard while reinforcing the value data can bring.
Empowering people
Transformation efforts are also critical inflection points for the people who lead them. Summit attendees spoke about why focusing directly on those involved in transformation efforts is especially critical, given that it is the cumulative impact of individual contributions that ultimately determines success. Four key steps were highlighted: tapping high-potential talent, investing in capability building, tying incentives to transformation outcomes, and providing clarity around next steps.
- Staff the transformation with high-potential talent. Tapping high-potential executives for the transformation recognizes the contribution that it can have on their career trajectory and the importance of staffing these efforts with top talent to accelerate impact. Such leaders are critical for engendering confidence among colleagues. For example, the chief transformation officer at a major oil company stressed the importance of working as a team and creating a community that generates excitement and reduces unwanted attrition in a high-pressure environment.
- Invest in extensive capability building that becomes a draw for involvement. Most companies generally don’t devote enough time and resources to developing skilled and motivated teams. New or existing training programs can be used to motivate and excite those involved, setting them up for success. The chief digital officer at a European airline shared that certain capability-building resources and a cross-functional mentorship network were made available for those involved in the transformation.
- Embed the transformation in company incentives and recognition programs. Attracting and retaining high-potential talent requires tangible incentives for involvement tied directly to transformation outcomes within the participants’ control.2 They should also encourage outperformance and broader participation and include metrics beyond financial impact. For example, the chief digital officer of a European airline cited creating annual objectives tied to contributions to the transformation effort, and publicly spotlighting successful initiatives or examples of new ways of working, either via company town halls or through prize schemes.
- Provide clarity to participants about next steps. A major success factor is for those involved to have a clear understanding of what they will do once the effort is over. Providing certainty for the future is critical to freeing transformation leaders to make the kind of bold decisions that are often required. “The most important factor for your success is whether there’s a way out,” one long-time bank CEO said. “Have you agreed with your CEO on what kind of thing you could be doing after you leave this role? The more that is secured, the better you will be at your role: the more courageous you will be, the more open minded you will be, the more you will learn in terms of doing it, and the more effective you will be in generating change.”
While successful transformations result from countless small actions by large and diverse teams and, ultimately, entire organizations, individuals propel every element. Understanding what motivates colleagues to join such efforts—and providing reasons for them to do so—helps set appropriate incentives, position colleagues for success, and ensure that being involved in a transformation is a career stepping stone, not something that weighs them down.
