Leading change
What is Change Fatigue?
What is Change Fatigue?
5 minutes
Key Takeaways
Change fatigue is a growing challenge in workplaces, driven by the relentless pace of change that leaves employees feeling mentally, emotionally, and physically depleted.
Implementing change involves costs that go beyond basic operational expenses. These include direct costs to the organisation such as resources and technology and indirect costs to individuals, including the time and energy required to adapt.
As employees continuously expend mental energy to adapt to new changes, their cognitive resources become exhausted. This fatigue can hinder their ability to think creatively and engage in problem-solving, which are essential during transitions.
Increased resistance is a natural response to change fatigue. When employees are overwhelmed, they may question the necessity of change and express reluctance to participate in new initiatives. This resistance can create a vicious cycle, where leaders perceive disengagement as a lack of commitment, further exacerbating fatigue.
Change fatigue first manifests in individuals, then slowly transitions into an organisational sentiment. The decline in employee satisfaction and trust in leadership can be directly linked to experiences of change fatigue. When employees feel unsupported during periods of change, their confidence in leadership diminishes, which can have long-term consequences for organisational culture and employee retention.
The signs of change fatigue in individuals include increased resistance to change, declining morale, and pushback. As for in an organisational level, change fatigue can lead to slowed or failed change initiatives and declining employee morale.
Sources
Worthy, C. (2023, June 6). What is Change Fatigue?. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bklJzsS4hNc
by
Hellomonday