The UN's Sustainable Development Goals, demanding climate agreements, committed Fridays for Future students, a new supply chain law, heated gender debates, innovative forms of business and a growing social entrepreneurship movement - the sustainability transformation is already in full swing. Organizations must be key players in this process, acting as stewards and role models for a conscious approach to our planet and our society. In order to live up to this responsibility, people in organizations must be an active part of this transformation. We show how professional Change Management makes organizations successful in implementing their individual sustainability goals.
Social and political developments are driving change towards a more sustainable economy and accelerating developments in companies. On the one hand, the legal foundations are changing in line with increasing regulation (e.g. the European Green Deal or the Supply Chain Act). On the other hand, there is a change in thinking in society. Customers are demanding more and more sustainable products and services. The needs of employees are also changing. Young, qualified specialists increasingly want to generate a positive social impact through their job.
Sustainability is already an integral part of the corporate strategy of many forward-looking organizations. However, sustainability does not only refer to the ecological level, but also to the social and economic levels.
The sustainability transformation affects everyone in the organization
Whether a company wants to align itself with the UN's SDGs, is preparing for the new supply chain law or is about to introduce a transparent salary model, all these changes can only be implemented sustainably if the people in the organization are an active part of this change. New processes with an old mindset prevent any change from taking full effect. As a result, large investments in system changes fizzle out and leave behind old patterns of behavior and thinking.
The biggest success factor, but also stumbling block, in the sustainable transformation of organizations is the accompanying cultural change.
As cultural change can only be brought about by the people in the organization, we at CPC take a people-centric approach to implementing change. In large implementation projects, the involvement of Change Management is a real success factor with a considerable return on investment(Changefirst 2010).
As a "hidden champion" at Change Management , we help organizations to exploit the opportunities of sustainable transformation by successfully implementing change and to emerge stronger in the market.
Our approach for sustainable change
But how can change be implemented effectively on a practical level? We start our change project with a change initiation. This forms the basis for a successful Change Management.
Our first step is a thorough change impact analysis. This determines the specific effects of the changes on people and culture in the organization. We use surveys and targeted interviews. We derive specific measures based on the findings from the analysis. These help those affected to implement and accept the change.
In the next step, we work with the project team and sponsors to develop a change story that describes the reason for the change (e.g. changed customer requirements for sustainable products), the target image and the path to get there. The story makes the change project tangible and provides orientation for those affected. It also gives managers and the project a common language.
It is also important to create transparency about the relationship network and to identify positive and negative influencing factors. To this end, we create a change network map in which this transparency is presented.
At the end of the initiation phase, we develop a change architecture in which suitable, target group-oriented change measures are planned. It is important to us that we coordinate these with the activities in the project. In doing so, we take cultural aspects into account and harmonize them with the upcoming changes in the sustainability transformation.
At CPC, we are constantly reinventing ourselves and adapting to changing circumstances. In the same way, we support organizations in finding this flexibility for themselves in order to be economically, ecologically and socially successful in the long term. We support organizations in the implementation of measures to increase sustainability with our decades of experience.
Are you interested in the topic and need Change Management for your sustainability transformation?
