What is ‘Change Fatigue’?

Famed German theoretical physicist Albert Einstein once said: “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.”

However, in today’s modern business world, change is a double-edged sword.

Whilst it’s a necessary constant for companies to maintain their competitive edge, this doesn’t make it any easier to deal with.

For many employees, organisational change can bring about stress and anxiety, which affects their job performance.

For businesses to successfully make large-scale changes to remain competitive, they need to anticipate the types of reactions their employees may have so that they can reassure them and help them focus on the success of the business.

One of the most instinctive reactions to change is resistance.

It’s normal for employees to not want to try a new process or learn a new role.

Organisational changes often mean employees have new managers or team members, or may be working in a completely new area of the business with a focus that’s not familiar to them.

As a result, they may want things to remain the same.

In a recent article, leading business management journal Harvard Business Review states that one third of employees experiencing organisational change don’t actually know why that change is happening (Source: Don’t Just Tell Employees Organizational Changes Are Coming — Explain Why (hbr.org). 

If businesses don’t share their vision for the organisational change and the benefits to the company, employees don’t have a real understanding of how the change will affect them.

This leads to initial resistance when learning about impending organisational change.

This resistance is now commonly referred to as ‘change fatigue.’

Change fatigue results when employees are bombarded with constant change, or a chaotic environment that lacks structure and direction.

What Structure could you add to the Chaos?! Photo Eric Prouzet Unsplash

Before COVID-19, employees had a much larger capacity for continuous or perpetual change.  When things were much more ‘normal,’ and we weren’t dealing with massive daily unknowns, we could easily cope and deal with unexpected or more frequent changes. 

But the pandemic has changed this – and an ever-changing environment with numerous variables leads to higher chances of experiencing change fatigue.

Indeed, a recent survey by research and consulting firm Gartner, reveals how employees’ ability to cope with change has decreased by 50% since the start of COVID-19 (Source: Change fatigue is rising; first tackle small everyday changes (gartner.com).

During these unprecedented times, it’s more important than ever to be aware of the warning signs of change fatigue.

Change fatigue symptoms include, but aren’t limited to, high levels of stress and fear, an inability to focus or collaborate, and a depleted output.

If you notice your colleagues aren’t working at their regular capacity, it may be time to take action to address and improve their mental health. 

Look out for my next blog in this series “How to tackle change fatigue in the workplace.”

If you’d like to explore the subject of change fatigue more deeply, please contact me via Email: russell@theresiliencecoach.co.uk.