The energy crisis – a welcome emergency brake for corporate change?

Energy crisis – a term that has been with us for several months now. It is a situation that is having a massive impact on our lives and businesses. Companies in the energy industry have been hit particularly hard. Sudden challenges that demand a significant amount of adaptation and require business owners to make the relevant changes to do so have recently been on the agenda of many companies. Our colleagues have discussed the energy crisis, its political significance and technical solutions extensively in previous blog posts. In this blog post, we will discuss how companies can manage this change.

Crisis situations as drivers of change

Both the energy crisis and the climate crisis are exerting enormous external pressure on companies. The production of sustainably generated energy to curb the climate crisis and sudden energy shortages are rapidly changing the market.

Crisis situations are challenging for companies and often lead to changes that had already been planned being de-prioritised and thus neglected as a result. The focus is currently on putting out fires, as shown, for example, by the technical implementation of the electricity price cap.

These situations have one thing in common: the transformation of an organisation. Companies need to find methodical solutions for dealing with change so as to remain future-proof and not to perpetuate the crisis situation as a reason for a welcome emergency brake for corporate change. This is where change management comes in.

Change management describes the implementation of measures to prepare the organisation and employees for the changes from the initial situation to the defined target state. People are always the focus of change.

What influence do change management methods have?

The use of change management methods in transformation projects is essential to successfully shape change in a company. All the stakeholders are involved and integrated into the change process at an early stage through individual concepts. This leads to increased acceptance, a smooth transition into ‘the new world’ and ultimately to project success. However, as a study by McKinsey confirms, more than 70 per cent of all transformation projects fail. So this leads us to the question: why do so many transformation projects fail? Here are some reasons why:

• 1. Resistance to change: A lack of targeted communication and not having those affected be involved can generate resistance to change, which in turn can stop the project from succeeding.
• 2. Lack of vision and clear goals: The people and teams involved may find it difficult to focus on a common goal without a clear vision and clear goals for the transformation project. This can make implementation difficult.
• 3. Lack of resources: Implementing change successfully can be difficult if the project does not have sufficient resources such as budget, staff or technology.
• 4. Lack of planning and implementation: Problems and challenges may arise during the process that are difficult to overcome if the transformation project is not well planned.
• 5. Lack of monitoring and control: Problems may go undetected and worsen over time, leading to the project failing if it is not continuously monitored and checked.

Using change management early on in the places that need it, as well as creating an individual change concept – including a readiness check, an impact analysis and a suitable roadmap – helps implement changes with greater success.

Conclusion

Successful change management enables companies to ‘put their foot on the gas’ in the energy crisis instead of stepping on the emergency brake by implementing targeted and structured changes. In this way, they adapt to the challenges of the changing energy sector and ensure long-term success.

At adesso, we know how to do change management. Our core business is to support companies in their transformation projects.

You will find more exciting topics from the adesso world in our latest blog posts.