A study by the Hays Group found the following to be startlingly true:

• 70% of Executive Interventions fail.
• 70% of Mergers fail.
• 70% of Outsourcing Projects fail.
• 70% of Business Process Re-engineering Projects fail.
• 70% is the contribution of business leaders to organisational climate, with organizational climate contributing up to 25% in terms of overall business return.

The last bullet point presents most senior executives with an unfamiliar challenge as the focus of attention on devising the best strategic and tactical plans is the normal activity. But to succeed, they also must have an intimate understanding of the human side of change management - the alignment of the company's Culture, Values, People and Behaviors - to encourage the desired results.

Plans themselves do not capture value; value is realized only through the sustained, collective actions of the individual, the team, the unit, the department, the business, the staff, the employees, the workers........who are responsible for designing, executing, and living with the changed environment......FACT

Experience has shown me that long term structural transformation has four chararcteristics:

• SIZE - The change that affects all or most of the organization
• SCOPE - Involving the significant alterations of normal activities
• SCALE - How long it lasts
• STRATEGIC VALUE - The long term value to the business and its employees

Most executives are aware of the impact the workforce will have on a given intervention and at some point or other suffer some form of associated stress in regards to this point. The reality of what they are actually worrying about is sometimes uncertain...... the person, the team, the business, their emotions, their activity, their feelings, their outputs....it's complicated.

In my experience of Change and Integration Projects there are varying types of executive, managers and leaders in respect of the Human Element.

• Those that care.
• Those that don't care.
• Those that care and show it.
• Those that care and don't show it.
• Those that care, try to show it, but fail to.
• Those that care, try to show it and succeed.

Whilst coaching managers through acquisitions, integrations and at one time the largest IT Integration Project in the Insurance Industry, I have seen people in tears, having tantrums, walking out, aggressive and at the other end motivational and inspiring.

There are many senior executives that worry about the people element of their business, they understand at the very least at an intellectual level that it is the person that will endeavor and endure. When asked what keeps them up at night, managers and leaders involved in change, integration and transformation often say they are concerned about how their people will react, how they can get their team to work together, and how they will be able to lead their people.

They also worry about retaining their company's unique values and sense of identity and about creating a culture of commitment and performance.

Having worked in Start Up and Blue Chip businesses, I have been truly amazed at the variance in emotional awareness between managers, leaders and executives.

To quote John Welwood: "The most powerful agent of growth and transformation is something much more basic than any technique: a change of heart"