A new study from Stagwell’s Harris Group and consultant Grossman Group finds that organizations are at what they call the “change tipping point,” meaning change is occuring at a rate beyond which most employees can handle it. 

Employees can realistically absorb only 1 or 2 major changes a year—yet business leaders surveyed for the study expect 3 to 4 big changes annually in the next couple of years, “pushing organizations past the tipping point.” 

AI of course is the big kahuna of change—the change that changes everything. It’s driving one-third of all strategic and process transformations, making it the top opportunity and the top challenge. 

Per the study, 1 of 4 major change initiatives fail. And the consequences aren’t good: Employee burnout, dissatisfaction, spiked workloads and turnover.  

Organizations are more than 5 times more likely to fail in implementing a big change without visible leadership and without effective communication, the study found. 

1 in 4 employees say their leaders do not communicate change well, while culture change and layoffs are the most difficult. 

But the study offers tips for implementing change successfully, including making sure that the scale of the proposed changes is manageable. Also, engaged leaders are a must, as is communicating effectively with employees why the change is necessary. Also critical: a feedback loop that tracks how employees are experiencing the changes.  

More from the study can be found here.