Leadership Effectiveness Scores a -25.5 NPS
Introduction to Organisational Change
Organisational change encompasses the deliberate actions a company or business undertakes to modify significant aspects of its operations, structure, or strategy. These changes may involve shifts in personnel, the introduction of new technologies, updates to business processes, or the realignment of company goals in response to evolving market conditions. Whether prompted by internal or external factors—such as technological advancements, regulatory changes, or shifts in customer expectations—organizational change is a constant in today’s dynamic business environment.
Effective organisational change management is essential for guiding companies through these transitions. By adopting structured change management practices, businesses can navigate uncertainty, minimise disruption, and achieve desired business outcomes. Organisational change management not only helps organisations adapt to external factors but also positions them for long-term success by fostering innovation, resilience, and competitiveness. In a world where change is inevitable, the ability to manage it effectively is a critical driver of organisational success.
Change Fundamentals: The Building Blocks of Transformation
Organisational change management is the cornerstone of any successful transformation, providing the structure and strategy needed to navigate today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. As companies face constant shifts in market conditions, technological advancements, and changes in the external environment, understanding both internal and external factors becomes critical. Organisational change management is important because it ensures successful adaptation, fosters employee engagement, and minimises disruption during transitions, which is vital for the smooth adoption of new processes, technologies, and organisational structures. Effective organisational change management starts with a clear vision and is driven by effective leadership that can anticipate challenges and guide the entire organisation through the change process.
At its core, organisational change management is about more than just implementing new processes or technologies—it’s about managing the emotional turbulence that often accompanies change and ensuring ongoing support for employees at every stage. By focusing on continuous improvement and tracking progress, organisations can make timely adjustments, ensuring that change implementation is both smooth and effective. Successful organisational change is a structured process involving clear planning, effective change management, and leadership that connects people to a shared vision.
Prioritising organisational change management enables businesses to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and achieve key business outcomes. It is essential for building a high-performance organisation that can adapt to external influences and secure a competitive advantage. Successful organisational change also requires a deep understanding of the organisation’s culture and the ability to manage change in a way that addresses the needs and concerns of all key stakeholders, while aligning change initiatives with organisational goals to enhance overall efficiency and effectiveness.
Ultimately, effective organisational change management is not a one-time event but an ongoing commitment. By embedding these principles into the fabric of the organisation, businesses can achieve long-term success, foster professional growth, and create a resilient, adaptable workforce ready to meet future challenges.
The Change Process
The change process is a structured journey that organisations follow to implement and manage change initiatives successfully. It typically unfolds in three key stages: unfreezing, changing (or moving), and refreezing. Unfreezing involves challenging the status quo and preparing individuals and teams to let go of established practices, making them receptive to new ways of working. This stage is crucial for managing change, as it sets the foundation for acceptance and readiness.
The changing or moving phase is where new processes, technologies, or behaviours are introduced. During this stage, leadership plays a pivotal role in guiding, supporting, and inspiring employees to adopt new approaches. Active engagement from all stakeholders and clear communication are essential to ensure that the change is implemented smoothly and that everyone understands their role in the process.
Finally, refreezing solidifies the changes by embedding new behaviours and practices into the organisation’s culture. This stage involves continuous reinforcement, monitoring, and support to prevent regression and ensure that the improvements are sustained over time. By following a structured change process, organisations can manage change more effectively, minimise resistance, and achieve lasting success.
Clear Vision and Goals
A clear vision and well-defined goals are the cornerstones of successful organisational change. They provide direction and purpose, helping both leaders and employees understand the “why” behind the change and how it aligns with broader business outcomes. When leadership articulates a compelling vision, it becomes easier for employees to grasp the importance of the change and see how their efforts contribute to the organisation’s success.
Effective leadership is critical in formulating and communicating this vision, ensuring that everyone in the business is aligned and motivated. Clear goals break down the vision into actionable steps, making it easier to track progress and celebrate milestones along the way. When employees understand the objectives and the benefits of the change, they are more likely to engage with the process and support its implementation. Ultimately, a clear vision and goals are essential for driving organisational change, achieving business outcomes, and ensuring long-term success.
Leadership Effectiveness Scores a -25.5 NPS
Our survey’s central question—“Rate the current effectiveness of your organisation’s leadership in driving improvements”—yielded a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of –25.5. This negative score underscores a widespread lack of confidence in leadership’s ability to lead meaningful change. With nearly half of the respondents categorised as Detractors and only 20% as Promoters, organisations face a trust and capability deficit at the very top. The C-suite plays a critical role in decision-making during organisational change, and a lack of confidence at this level can hinder effective transformation.
The use of NPS in this context is particularly powerful. Originally developed to measure customer loyalty, NPS has evolved into a trusted indicator of engagement and sentiment across various domains, including employee experience. By tracking progress with tools like NPS, organisations can garner support from both employees and leadership by demonstrating improvements and addressing concerns. By asking whether colleagues would advocate for their leadership’s effectiveness, the metric reveals a direct measure of emotional commitment and organisational engagement.
A Fragmented Landscape of Change Readiness
Our data reveals a fractured reality: 45% of respondents are Detractors—employees who actively doubt leadership’s effectiveness—while only 20% are Promoters. Despite the pressure to adapt, 92 respondents said their organisations only respond to change “when necessary,” and 57 described structural or cultural resistance to transformation. Challenging the status quo is necessary for progress, as change occurs when organisations move beyond established practices and beliefs. Only 60 reported proactively embracing change. It is essential to help employees understand how such a change will impact them and why their support is crucial for successful transformation. Implementing structured, strategic processes is vital to ensure a smooth transition during organisational change and minimise disruption. These figures illustrate the difference between knowing change is essential and being capable of leading it.
Effective Leadership Style Drives Engagement—or Erodes It
Leadership style plays a defining role in shaping readiness. While transformational leadership—associated with innovation and inclusion—was cited by 71 respondents, autocratic leadership emerged as the most prevalent style (86 responses). Notably, autocratic environments correlated strongly with Detractor responses, underscoring the cost of outdated, command-and-control structures.
By contrast, organisations led through transformational, democratic, or servant leadership reported higher perceived effectiveness and stronger engagement. These styles foster shared ownership, trust, and a willingness to change—traits essential for thriving in dynamic environments. Importantly, transformational, democratic, and servant leadership focuses on managing change effectively as the company grows, ensuring that change initiatives are aligned with organisational objectives and that employees are involved.
Securing Buy-In
Securing buy-in from key stakeholders is a critical step in any successful organisational change initiative. This process involves engaging leadership, employees, and other stakeholders early and often, ensuring that everyone understands the reasons for the change and how it will impact them. Effective change management requires a comprehensive communication plan that keeps all parties informed, addresses concerns, and fosters a sense of ownership.
Leadership must demonstrate commitment and provide ongoing support, especially during periods of emotional turbulence that often accompany change. By involving key stakeholders in decision-making and addressing their feedback, organisations can build trust and reduce resistance. Securing buy-in is not just about agreement—it’s about creating a shared commitment to the change process, which is essential for achieving business outcomes and long-term success. With strong leadership, clear communication, and continuous support, organisations can navigate the complexities of change and ensure that all employees are aligned and engaged.
Obstacles to Change: Status Quo, Consistent and Cultural
Across the board, respondents pointed to limited resources (114 mentions), resistance from teams or leaders (100), inadequate training (95), and poor communication (88) as primary barriers to successful change. Overcoming these obstacles often requires rethinking business processes and ensuring they are aligned with business goals to support the organisation’s strategic objectives. During periods of change, it is also crucial to focus on onboarding and integrating new employees to ensure a smooth transition and maintain productivity. These factors were most acutely felt by Detractors, who were up to five times more likely to cite them than Promoters.
Training needs were particularly telling. While Detractors demanded foundational skills—such as practical tools and resilience—Promoters requested advanced leadership training focused on sustaining change and strategic implementation. Organisations can also implement methodologies like Lean Six Sigma to drive process improvement and support effective change initiatives.
The Engagement Divide Is Real and Risky
Readiness is not just strategic—it’s emotional. When asked if they would participate in future workshops on leadership and change, 84% of Promoters said yes. Among Passives, 71% were interested. But only 50% of Detractors expressed willingness to re-engage. This highlights the risk of disengagement becoming entrenched, where poor leadership not only erodes trust but also diminishes opportunities for improvement. To prevent this, it is crucial to secure buy-in from all employees, ensuring their support and involvement to foster a culture of participation.
Five Imperatives to Strengthen Organisational Change Management Readiness
To address the readiness gap, organisations must act with intention. Based on our findings, we recommend five core interventions:
- Adopt empowering leadership models—Transformational, democratic, and servant leadership styles build engagement and accountability.
- Embed communication as a strategic function—Move beyond messaging to create ongoing dialogue and shared clarity.
- Tailor leadership development—Deliver training aligned to current capabilities, with a focus on resilience and sustaining change.
- Break structural resistance—Decentralise authority, enable cross-functional collaboration, and eliminate bureaucratic friction.
- Continuously measure impact—Use NPS and similar tools to track perception, progress, and readiness in real time. It is also essential to track progress in the implementation of new technology and changes to supply chains, ensuring that both operational and technological changes are effectively adopted and sustained.
Organizations face various types of change, including incremental change, planned change, unplanned change, remedial change, reactionary change, and transformational change. These changes can be driven by internal or external factors, such as shifts in market conditions, technological advancements, or disruptions in supply chains. Effectively implementing change requires structured approaches and strong leadership to ensure that initiatives are successfully implemented and fully embedded within the organisation. Understanding the types of organisational change is crucial for planning and managing change initiatives effectively, enabling organisations to successfully implement change that aligns with their goals and industry trends. By tracking progress and focusing on both the adoption of new technology and improvements to supply chains, organisations can ensure that changes are not only implemented but also deliver lasting impact.
Sustaining Change
Sustaining change goes beyond initial implementation; it requires a long-term commitment to continuous improvement and ongoing support. Organisations must track progress, make necessary adjustments, and reinforce new behaviours to ensure that changes are fully embedded and deliver lasting value. A focus on professional growth and development helps employees adapt to new expectations and fosters a culture of learning and innovation.
Effective leadership and management are essential for maintaining momentum and driving operational excellence. By prioritising continuous improvement and providing ongoing support, organisations can maintain a competitive advantage and achieve long-term success. Sustaining change also means creating an environment where employees feel empowered to contribute ideas and take ownership of improvements, ensuring that the organisation remains agile and ready to meet future challenges. Through structured change management and a relentless focus on excellence, businesses can turn change into a catalyst for ongoing success.
Conclusion: Readiness Is a Capability, Not a Condition
In an era defined by transformation, change readiness cannot be left to chance. It must be built—intentionally, systematically, and at every level of leadership. Our data points to a troubling reality: many organisations are operating without the leadership trust and engagement needed to drive change.
But the good news is that readiness is learnable. By aligning leadership style, empowering teams, and prioritising strategic communication and training, organisations can close the readiness gap and become fit for the future.
Leanscape partners with organisations to build these capabilities through data-driven leadership development and operational excellence programs. For more, visit leanscape.io.
