At Change Specialists, we often see businesses dive headfirst into ambitious transformation programmes only to hit unexpected walls. The vision is clear, the plans are sound, and the energy is high. But here’s the question too few leaders stop to ask: Is your business truly ready for transformational change?
This blog post will explore why many change initiatives falter and how a proper capability assessment can be the difference between lasting impact and costly disappointment.
Why Assessing Capability Matters
Organisational capability needs resources or funding, but it’s also a holistic understanding of people, processes, culture, and leadership readiness. Ignoring capability assessments often results in mismanaged expectations, resistance, increased costs, delays, and ultimately, unsuccessful change.
A clear assessment of capability:
- Provides clarity about the strengths and weaknesses within your organisation.
- Aligns change initiatives with your strategic objectives.
- Enables proactive management of risks and obstacles.
- Needs realistic expectation-setting from board level downwards.
Assessing Capability – What are the key factors
An effective capability assessment looks at:
Leadership Alignment & Commitment: Are your senior leaders aligned with the change vision? Do leaders actively communicate and support the change?
Cultural Readiness: Is the current culture open or resistant to change? Have past changes been managed successfully or poorly?
Employee Engagement: Are your employees informed and involved? Do they have confidence in management’s commitment?
Real-World UK Examples: Success and Failure
Success Example – British Airways: In 2011, British Airways initiated a large-scale customer-experience transformation programme. They invested significantly in assessing organisational readiness, ensuring leadership alignment, employee engagement, and rigorous governance. As a result, the company successfully improved customer satisfaction scores and operational efficiency, significantly improving brand perception and profitability.
Failure Example – NHS National Programme for IT : The infamous NHS NPfIT serves as a cautionary tale. Despite a well-funded, ambitious plan, the NHS significantly underestimated internal capability and cultural resistance. Poor employee engagement and misaligned leadership, as well as inadequate change governance led to widespread rejection of new systems, which was costing taxpayers billions and leaving lasting organisational scars
Best Practice Recommendations
- Early Engagement: Assess capability before committing resources and setting expectations.
- Continuous Evaluation: Regularly revisit capability assessments throughout the change lifecycle.
- Transparency: Openly communicate assessment outcomes and improvement actions to build trust.
- Capability Building: Investing proactively in training and external expertise when gaps are identified.
What Next?
Understanding your organisational capability is vital for achieving transformational success. At Change Specialists, we prioritise capability assessment in our advisory work to equip our clients for sustainable transformation
Contact me, John Dean, or the wider team at Change Specialists, we are all seasoned Change professionals who are well placed to share our experiences and expertise to support your success.
Connect with John via LinkedIn. Or Follow Change Specialists for further tips to support successful project management.
