What's the cost of Change Fatigue?

To the individual

2021 research revealed employees who are change-fatigued reporting:

• 85% percent of employees report higher levels of burnout*

• 40% report declines in their work-life balance*

• 41% percent report lower trust in their teams*

• 37% of employees report lower trust in leadership*

The cost to our people is obvious. Physical, emotional and psychological stresses can result from Change Fatigue.

And prolonged exposure to this kind of stress response can lead to real physical and psychological harm. In fact, poorly managed change, is a recognised psychosocial hazard along with poor support.

To the team

2021 research revealed employees who are change-fatigued reporting:

• 37% less discretionary effort*along with the lower levels of trust felt by individuals in their teams.

When we are at the end of our adaptive capacity, it can be our colleagues who pay the price, with less effort given to our team endeavours and to the changes happening at our local level.

To the leader

2021 research revealed employees who are change-fatigued reporting:

• 37% lower levels of trust*

• 55% less responsiveness*

As well as being impacted as an individual, leaders

experience the erosion of trust that comes with Change Fatigue and the lack of action that can also emerge.

The failing productivity and results can further drag down the ability to change and adapt as yet more change is requested by the organisation.

To the organisation

2021 research revealed employees who are change-fatigued reporting:

• 28% less enterprise contribution*

• 24% less intent to stay*

• 55% less sustainable performance*

• Burnout and work-related stressors cost Australian workplaces $10.9 billion per year+

Organisations are struggling to retain, and engage employees, and seeing tangible drops in performance with many employees who stay. The costs of these workplace stressors are extremely high, in absenteeism, presenteeism and compensation claims.

To the change

Change needs energy to succeed, so it's important to have the people who need to make vital behavioural change engaged in the process.

Change Fatigue can reduce participants capacity to take part in co-creating the change, providing insight into the next right thing to do, or the best path for a Change experiment to take.

But all is not lost! Changing is a process not a one-off event, and working with the energy you have, and those who have time or interest, will help to move the Changing process along and create interest and engagement. Take a flexible approach to reduce the cost of Fatigue to the Change.

Curious about what Change Fatigue might be costing your business, your leaders or your teams? Find out more here. 

Or perhaps you'd like to know more about what you can do to manage and support your people, and reduce the cost of Change Fatigue today.

+Australia and New Zealand Autonomy of Work Index 2021

*2021 Gartner Workforce Resilience Employee Survey