Managing organizational change: Become a change agent

Imagine a world without change. It would be a place without innovation, creativity or progress. Even though people are hard-wired to fear change, it compels us to grow, adapt, and make a difference. The existence of change is what keeps us moving forward — as a species and a society.

But what is change? How do we adapt to its effects, and how do we harness the potential of successfully managing organizational change?

As each moment passes, things change, and once these changes have happened, they are never undone. Permanent change is a fundamental part of what it means to be human. Out there in the universe, those grand and epic cycles appear eternal and unchanging. But that’s an illusion ... in the life of the universe, just as in our lives, everything is irreversibly changing.
– Physicist Professor Brian Cox, BBC Series “Wonders of the Universe”

Within organizations, change brings complex challenges on a strategic, operational and human level — now accelerated by AI transformation and the demand for unprecedented agility. But where others fear change, Cielo sees it as a power to be harnessed.

As specialists in organizational change management consulting, we've seen firsthand how thoughtful planning, clear communication and human-centered strategies can turn disruption into opportunity. Change isn't just inevitable — it's a catalyst for transformation.

Let’s take a fresh look at the concept of change itself: to understand how it manifests and why we, as human beings, are so wary of it. We spoke to business leaders who took on the challenge of change to learn how they navigate an ever-shifting landscape — and how they handle those major inflection points where change can be leveraged.

The 3 principles of change

There’s a great deal of research and thinking on the concept of change, but it boils down to three basic principles:

1. Change is constant

Change is constant, occurring continuously over time. In his Doctrine of Flux, Greek Philosopher Heraclitus was one of the first thinkers to try to pin down the nature of change. The process of change isn’t restricted to a single moment, place, or person. It’s pervasive, happening all around us all the time.

2. Change is a continuum

Change is dynamic in its nature: a continuous sequence of events in which little appears to change from moment to moment. It’s only when you look back that you realize how far you’ve come — and how much adaptation you’ve made on that journey of change. Chase Wilson, Cielo’s Senior Vice President — Solutions & Product Innovation, believes that even seemingly influential moments don’t often create significant change — they merely set you down a path to the next moment, then the next.

3. Change is not isolated

Change is not isolated: it happens when there’s something to change and someone is there to feel its effect. Change in one element also requires simultaneous changes in all related aspects — including those we might not even consider. Cielo CEO Marissa Geist likens change to a ripple in a pond: it affects everyone, whether they realize it or not. If that’s the case, how do people respond to the impacts of change?

The human response to change

Despite evolving in an ever-changing world, human brains are programmed to dislike change — particularly when it’s not within their control. Tuned to prefer routine and consistency, our programming tells us to equate change with a lack of safety.

But learning new skills and ways of working also makes your prefrontal cortex work harder. Given that your brain uses a quarter of your body’s energy, you can see why Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workforce report found that employee engagement has dropped to 21%.

That’s why our brains like familiar actions, bypassing the need to learn new skills and processes. We become comfortable in constancy. When we don’t know what might be around the next corner, we feel stressed, anxious and scared.

Christina Holmer, Head of Talent Acquisition at Walgreens, experienced that fear factor when implementing Recruitment Process Outsourcing at the retail pharmacy:

There were some pretty significant fears and concerns over whether it was the right thing to do. Members of our internal team were thinking, ‘What does that mean for me and my future?
– Christina Holmer, Head of Talent Acquisition, Walgreens

Given that organizations are complex collectives of closely linked individuals, getting people to embrace the unknown means that successful change must overcome our brain’s desire to stay in its comfort zone. But, at ground level, not everyone is willing or able to adapt.

In recent years, we’ve collectively experienced major changes: dramatic shifts in the way – and where — we work, a turbulent market, and the rapid advancement of AI. Not only has it created a new wave of prioritization in many people’s lives and an amplified need for agility, but “change fatigue” has left some less receptive to change.

Employee engagement dropped to 21%, according to Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workforce report.

Organizational change

As we strive to regain equilibrium as individuals, businesses that can’t — or won’t — change face the very real threat of becoming increasingly unable to keep up in a fast-moving world. And with AI revolutionizing industries worldwide, agility is even more crucial.

Organizational change becomes inevitable when a business faces an operational problem that can’t be solved using its established ways of working. These inflexion points demand action, but you need to think very carefully about how and when you proceed.

Action itself is more important than spending large amounts of time weighing potential impacts — although it remains a key part of the process
– Marissa Geist, CEO, Cielo

Do all your thinking while you still have control of everything. Before you’re compelled to manage multiple moving parts, take time to consider what you expect from the change, what the unintended consequences might be, and what it would be like in the throes of the change.

Don’t expect instant miracles either: in our experience, effective organizational change takes time. Setting a realistic timeframe that includes incremental points of progress and review will enable any necessary course corrections and will help mitigate continual disruption over the project’s duration.

We firmly believe that success becomes much more likely when you can increase the number of engaged people with a positive view. Finding change-agents to help steer your transformation will turn a potentially bumpy ride into a much smoother journey. But even within the best-prepared organizations, effective change can prove elusive.

You can’t invest too much time in talking about what the impacts of change might be.

Jacob Presser of change consultants Root is mindful, though, that not everyone will be ready for a great leap forward. He says that, within organizations, there are three categories of people:

The actively disengaged: Who are deliberately working against you
The engaged: Who have bought into the plan and will act as change agents within the business
The Indifferent: Who are not too connected to what happens, but they’re fine with it

Managing organizational change

McKinsey & Co. reports that 70% of organizational change efforts fail due to employee resistance and lack of management support. So, how do you protect yourself against becoming part of that shocking statistic?

We believe good communication on a human level is key. Experience tells us that people want to feel connected to something bigger than themselves, and they want to believe that their journey is meaningful. This means they want to see the bigger picture and get a clear view of their role in shaping that.

Effective change management = engagement + understanding

Getting people engaged in the management of change and ensuring they understand the rationale for it is key to increasing your chances of success.

It’s all about getting all the right stakeholders involved early, getting them to understand the ‘why’ — what’s in it for them. People are more likely to embrace something if they understand the benefits to them. You have to connect everybody to the change so that they’re both intellectually and emotionally aligned with what the changes are, why it’s happening, what you’re looking to accomplish.
– Iain Everett, Former Head of Recruitment, Royal Mail

Cassie Pike, Cielo’s Executive Vice President — Client Partnerships, also thinks it’s essential to communicate the reasons why you’re making the change — and that each individual involved can see clear personal benefits in that change. Communicating across all available channels is important. Change will be received much better if everyone understands why it’s happening, the expected outcomes, and how it’ll impact them.

With so much going on in people’s lives — and especially with the change fatigue of recent years — sweeping shifts to their comfortable routine can put people under additional strain. That’s why it’s more important than ever that they feel connected to a greater “whole” and don’t feel isolated to deal with their fears alone.

And the single biggest way to help people feel supported is to foster a progressive culture in which change is seen as a positive driver of evolution, growth and opportunity.

70% of organizational change efforts fail due to employee resistance and lack of management support.

Harnessing the cultural power of change

When strategy meets culture head-on, culture always wins. It has a major influence on the way businesses function, so what happens when culture meets change?

Organizations must develop capabilities to help them lead in today’s rapidly changing, unstable environments. And a key capability for delivering successful change organization wide is fostering a culture of discovery, curiosity and innovation.

It requires building teams that are both empowered and connected to a collective drive to embrace uncertainty as an opportunity to think more creatively and change for the better.

We think of change as a “whole business” project. For it to succeed, the whole business must adopt new ways of thinking and working: a “culture of curiosity” in which change is seen as a positive step into the future and not an indictment of what’s happened in the past.

We think of change as a “whole business” project. For it to succeed, the whole business must adopt new ways of thinking and working.

Become a change agent

Don't fear change. Embrace it. The alternative is not an option.

We all live in the shadow of change. And in today’s landscape, there’s a growing number of unprecedented challenges — and opportunities.

The widespread implementation of AI, geopolitical dynamics, the climate crisis, and shifts in the global economic equilibrium have created a business environment that demands extraordinary agility. These forces have triggered workforce disruptions and talent migrations across industries. Businesses require new strategies for how we structure teams, develop skills, and cultivate leadership.

Resilience to change comes from continuity: the ability to retain your best people while attracting new talent. However, we’re hearing that almost 33% of employees say they’re quitting their jobs due to a lack of growth opportunities. Put simply, if businesses don’t change — or provide an environment for change — good people leave.

So, where do we look for illumination? Certainly, a strong change culture creates an environment where people feel they can belong, grow and contribute more meaningfully. It also provides a benchmark for future hires, supplying a template for attributes, attitudes and behaviors.

Key principles for successful organizational change

Delivering successful change that carries the consensus of all stakeholders, creates change agents and is seen as positive progress requires the application of four key principles:

Clarity

Make the reasons for change so abundantly clear that everyone understands why that change is taking place.

Communication

Ensure stakeholders are informed at all stages of the expectations, impacts and benefits of the change.

Connectedness

Make sure that everyone feels part of a greater whole - and that their participation positively contributes to the collective success.

Culture

Foster a strong collective purpose that embraces change and encourages curiosity.

Having considered the nature of change, it’s clear that there comes a time when all organizations face an existential choice: evolve or become obsolete. In a volatile world, businesses able to harness the momentum of change will thrive.

We believe that change is a force that empowers, energizes — even galvanizes — people into positive action. Given its pervasive nature, every organization needs change agents who will see the opportunities, power agility, and drive momentum. In a fast-changing world, that’s a vital skill to have.

About the authors

Marissa Geist

Chief Executive Officer, Cielo

Marissa is the Chief Executive Officer of Cielo, the world’s leading global talent acquisition partner. She joined Cielo in 2015 as Senior Vice President of Global Operations, where she was instrumental in scaling Cielo’s delivery model.

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