Research from Lane4 over the past two years shows 88% have experienced substantial change, but only 9% believe they have managed this successfully.
The survey of senior managers, CEOs directors and partners found the main obstacles to change were people factors, with more than a third (36%) seeing staff as a significant challenge to change.
The main people factors were employee resistance (53%), followed by people-related cultural constraints (22%), lack of skills (15%) and lack of engagement (10%).
Other factors included leadership (34%), practical (25%) and external (5%).
Katie Warriner, research consultant at Lane4, said: "To succeed at the change game, leaders must manage a multitude of challenging barriers. By failing to handle change properly, a firm can face reduced employee productivity particularly during large-scale change. In addition, poorly managed change causes reduced profitability and competitiveness, loss of talent in the short-term and attrition in the long-term, low levels of employee engagement and compromised management credibility."
"Our findings indicate people factors require the most attention. Therefore, to ensure successful change, leaders must consider engagement as a mindset rather than a stage on a project plan. By developing and communicating a compelling story for change, shaping an effective process and enabling the people, leaders can ensure that they understand the reasons for change, care about initiatives being a success and are equipped to make it a success."
