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Change Management
We lead change from decision to adoption, mobilizing leaders and teams to reduce resistance and sustain results.
What is change management?
Change management is the discipline that takes a transformation from decision to adoption, preparing people, leaders and culture to operate in the new model. It combines technical rigor and human care. WePeople builds readiness, reduces resistance and sustains the change until it becomes the new standard. According to Prosci, projects with excellent change management are 7 times more likely to meet or exceed their goals.
The thesis
The system goes into production on go-live day. The return comes only when people change.
An ERP can go live on schedule and still fail to deliver the expected value, because that value depends on people working differently. BCG estimates that about 70% of the challenges in scaling artificial intelligence come from people and processes. That is why change management starts before it becomes urgent, not once resistance has already appeared.
Signs your company needs this
- A major transformation (system, merger, new model) faces resistance or low buy-in.
- The project delivered the tool but did not change the way people work.
- Every change starts from scratch, with no readiness in place.
- Leadership communicates the change but does not sustain it day to day.
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88%
of projects with excellent change management meet or exceed their goals, compared with 13% with poor change management
Source: Prosci, Best Practices in Change Management -
~5x
more likely to stay on or ahead of schedule
Source: Prosci, Best Practices in Change Management -
~1,5x
more likely to stay on budget
Source: Prosci, Best Practices in Change Management
Where we work
The kinds of change we work on
- ERP and enterprise system rollouts, such as SAP S/4HANA
- Mergers and acquisitions (M&A)
- Restructurings and new management models
- Change management training for leaders
- Training for business partners and change agents
- Setting up a Business Transformation office focused on change management
How we work
Five phases, from decision to adoption
The schedule follows that of the change being implemented. In the reference model, the journey spans about five months, with overlapping phases.
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Journey planning and organizational readiness
Strategy, scope and governance, readiness questionnaire, culture reading, change network map and a consolidated change management plan.
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Raising awareness and involving leadership and stakeholders
Influencer network, stakeholder map and resistance management, leadership training, key user preparation and coaching for change.
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Organizational, relational and local communication
Plans by audience and channel, sponsor communications, roadshows, bite-sized content, pulse surveys and workshops with those affected, with engagement metrics.
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Mapping organizational impacts and learning
Documented impacts, change committees, training strategy (train the trainer), hard and soft skills journeys, and performance and ROI KPIs.
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Change sustainment metrics
Stabilization plan, post-go-live resistance management, adoption metrics, training teams for sustainment and knowledge management.
Related case study
Intelbras
The SAP S/4HANA implementation was a strategic step to modernize management at Intelbras. The change management project mobilized hundreds of employees and change agents through communication, training and leadership engagement.
See the case studyFrequently asked questions
Change Management in practice
What is change management?
It is the discipline that takes a transformation from strategy to execution by preparing people, leaders and culture to adopt it.
Why do most transformations fail?
It usually does not fail in the strategy; it fails in sustainment: culture does not keep up, leaders do not engage and behaviors do not change. According to McKinsey, about 70% of transformations fail to reach their goals, and employee resistance and management behavior are among the main causes. That is why change management starts before it becomes urgent.
What is readiness for change?
It is how prepared people, leaders and culture are to adopt a change. Assessing it before you start shows where resistance is likely to appear and guides the communication, engagement and support plan.
How do you measure buy-in to a change?
With adoption metrics defined in the change management plan and tracked before and after go-live, by department and by level: stakeholder engagement, readiness, effective use of the new process or system and performance in the new model, until the change becomes the new standard.
How should change management be handled in an ERP rollout?
By starting alongside the technical project, not at go-live. Change management assesses each department's readiness, maps impacts by process and role, prepares leaders and key users, runs communication and training, and tracks stabilization with adoption metrics. That is what WePeople did in Intelbras's SAP S/4HANA implementation.
Let's talk about your scenario.
Tell us about your culture, performance or leadership challenge. We will get back to you with perspectives that apply to your context.
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