Transformation Fatigue: More than half of employees have considered leaving their jobs due to frequent and failed transformations

  • 50% of employees have considered leaving their jobs because of transformation fatigue – the exhaustion and frustration felt after multiple unsuccessful transformations1
  • Nearly 60% of employees report feeling burnout from the additional work created by change programs
  • 30% of employees have experienced five or more transformations in the last five years
  • Half of those transformations fail2

LONDON – August 2024 – ‘Transformation’ is a word executives often use to communicate the need for radical change in their organizations. Emergn’s latest research finds that employees recognize the need for change but feel so unhappy with the way it’s executed that more than half have considered leaving their jobs because of it.

Emergn’s data reveals that half of employees could leave their jobs due to frequent transformations. To add to this, nearly 60% of employees report feeling burnout from too many transformations, with the number much higher in the UK than in the US (68% in the UK vs 47% in the US). Also, 58% of employees have experienced “transformation face” – the look of dread and resignation when another transformation is announced.

Lack of adequate leadership, communication, and training are the top reasons why employees feel this way

Disconnected leadership, poor communication, and insufficient learning programs are key contributors to transformation fatigue. 50% of employees say that leadership failures – particularly bosses who are out of touch with the concerns of the rank-and-file – contribute to transformation failures.

Poor communication also means employees are often unsure of overall objectives. Here, the survey reveals a quarter of all employees feel uninformed about the reasons behind transformations.

Big consultancies are failing the companies they advise

Critically, employees surveyed tell us that the most well-known firms advising on transformation programs aren’t giving their clients what they need. Of the 51% of survey respondents who reported working with three of the biggest consultancies in transformation processes, 87% felt they had a negative impact or were no help at all. Only 13% reported that they were more help than hindrance.

  • 49.43% of UK and US respondents have considered leaving their job due to the repetitive nature of transformation programs. For the UK alone, the total was 59.71%.1
  • Within the last 5 years.2
  • McKinsey, Bain & Company and Boston Consulting Group.3

What you have is big consultancy armies with briefcases; they walk into organizations and confidently try to get them to fit into a pre-designed transformation strategy mold. But what organizations need is a solution that works in their context – they need to own their transformation. The sheer volume of transformation fatigue shows that defaulting to the big consultancy solution simply isn’t working.

Alex Adamopoulos, Emergn CEO

Industries that are most affected by transformation fatigue

Transformation fatigue is more acute in some industries and sectors. Emergn’s data revealed that:

  • 65% of those in government and the public sector say they want to leave their jobs because of frequent transformations; three-quarters say this has led to increased workload.
  • Fewer than a quarter of transformation projects in Sales and Marketing are successfully completed.
  • Sectors such as Finance, Legal, and HR report minimal positive impact from transformation projects.

BUT: Despite the challenges, 70% of employees recognize the importance of effective transformations to remain competitive. Emergn’s survey shows that the core issue of transformations is the execution, not support of the concept. Employees recognize that being able to implement and embrace change is not just a necessity but a strategic advantage in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape.

Many organizations recognize that transformations, when done right, are crucial for staying competitive. The current state where transformations are frequent, cost millions of pounds and are poorly implemented is clearly unsustainable – but this is not how it needs to be. Organizations need to understand the importance of finding value quickly, and of being armed with specific tools for their specific needs – it’s never a case of ‘one size fits all’. Change initiatives need momentum, clarity of message, and learning initiatives that keep colleagues focused on value and outcomes. It’s about proving why you should do the next thing. And it’s about enduring results. Get those right, and colleagues will look forward to transformations rather than be fatigued by them.

Alex Adamopoulos, Emergn CEO

Emergn’s latest thought paper reveals how to make overcoming transformation fatigue your unfair competitive advantage. The right approach, leadership, and systems – and a change of culture – not only prevents transformation fatigue, but also maintains momentum for change initiatives, empowering you to go from ‘fatigue to fit’.

Read the full paper by Emergn here.

About the survey

Emergn’s survey was conducted across 702 respondents across the UK and US who are CEOs, CTOs, COOs, project manager/lead/coordinators, change coordinators, transformation consultants, or departmental managers, and who are also involved in operational change in companies with 1,000 or more employees and $500 Million or more of GLOBAL average annual turnover.

About Emergn

Emergn is a global digital business services firm with a mission to improve the way people and companies work. Forever. Emergn empowers the world’s most respected businesses – including Fortune 500, FTSE 100, and Global 2000 companies – to transform their promising ideas into valuable digital products and customer experiences, faster than anyone else. Emergn’s experts work with clients to transform their business in three ways:

  1. Helping to better define their thinking, including shaping their product organization and clarifying and communicating their product strategy.
  2. Developing their people by delivering exemplary training in product management, modern ways of working, and leadership.
  3. Delivering their outcomes by building customer-centric products and customer experiences.

Emergn has invested more than a decade perfecting a game-changing philosophy for the world of work to transform businesses – Value, Flow, Quality (or VFQ for short) – combining the best of Agile, Lean, design thinking and systems thinking, economics, psychology, and sociology. It is not just another methodology and instead takes investments clients have made in new ways of working and turns them into tangible results. This unique approach has been built to support enterprise-scale change and consists of the latest models, techniques, and tools for delivering work in an agile and effective way. Emergn has a strong presence in over a dozen countries, with its US headquarters in Boston and EMEA headquarters in London. For more information, visit Emergn’s website and follow Emergn on LinkedIn and X.

Media contact:

Dentons Global Advisors
James Melville-Ross, Adam Davidson, Nishad Sanzagiri: +44 7895 187727 [email protected]