The hidden cost of workplace transformation: How change initiatives crush top employees
Nearly half of employees report experiencing “transformation fatigue,” while an equal number say change initiatives are making things worse, not better. And the workforce employers depend on to execute their companies’ future? They’re tired, confused and increasingly fed up.
A study from business services firm Emergn spanning 751 organizations globally reveals what many of us have long suspected: corporate approaches to organizational transformation are fundamentally broken. The research exposes a workforce under siege, caught between the relentless pace of change and leadership that hasn’t built the infrastructure to support it.
The data reveals a devastating trust deficit. Forty-three percent of employees believe leadership missteps contribute directly to transformation failures, while 38% say leaders demonstrate a lack of understanding about the complexities involved. Perhaps most damning, 44% of employees report receiving insufficient training in regard to transformation initiatives — meaning organizations are demanding their people run a marathon without first teaching them how to tie their shoes.
This isn’t just an execution problem — it’s a leadership crisis, the study suggests. “Too many companies are mistaking activity for progress,” says Alex Adamopoulos, CEO of Emergn. “Transformation isn’t supposed to break people, it’s supposed to build capability. But right now, we’re seeing the opposite. This is no longer just a leadership issue; it’s a business model problem.”
The data supports that, with 49% of employees reporting transformation fatigue, 44% seeing the frequency of change as too high, 44% suffering burnout from managing constant changes and 37% thinking of quitting due to the nonstop upheaval. And those aren’t the complaints of resistors or laggards; rather, they are the warning signs of a workforce being asked to do the impossible without the proper support, clarity or resources.
Perhaps most concerning is that AI, touted as the solution to so many organizational challenges, may be compounding the problem, with more than half of respondents saying transformation fatigue is being worsened by initiatives driven by the technology. That means the very tools that are supposed to make work easier are instead adding another layer of complexity, another mandate to absorb and another skill to master, all while the fundamentals of effective change management remain unaddressed.
“Organizations are pushing hard to adopt new technologies without building the human readiness to sustain them,” as Adamopoulos puts it. “This is not sustainable digital transformation, it’s digital exhaustion.”
Phoebe Gavin, a career and leadership coach, sees this play out from both sides, working with leaders trying to build buy-in while driving transformation as well as burned-out employees seeking jobs where the ground isn’t, as she puts it, “shifting under their feet every quarter.”
Ultimately, leaders consistently fail to speak directly to the people affected by their transformation initiatives, she suggests. “Leaders don’t know what’s important to these employees or how they’re currently experiencing their jobs,” she says. “As a result, they are not able to anticipate the negative externalities of their decisions — even when those decisions are strategically sound.”
One of the key drivers of burnout is perceived lack of control. “When employees lack agency over their work, or when it changes quickly and unpredictably, they disengage, lose faith in their leaders and become pessimistic about their companies’ prospects,” Gavin says.
Ultimately, leaders — especially executive-level leaders — should avoid becoming disconnected from the people who actually do the work of transformation, as Gavin sees it. “Surveys are not enough,” she says. “They need to actually speak with them regularly and use that information to pressure test their strategies.”
Transformation initiatives aren’t going away, with 7 in 10 organizations viewing them as necessary for competitive survival, according to Emergn. But what’s made clear in the study is that current approaches are unsustainable — and the bill is coming due in the form of spent employees, failed projects and a workforce that has lost faith in leadership’s ability to guide them through change.
As Adamopoulos warns, “It’s time to rethink change, before talent walks.”