Why do we do change management? To build excellent plans? To abide by best practices in business? to appease our leadership team that decided we needed to do it? No. We apply change management because change management has a distinct and pointed focus on benefit realization and achieving the desired results and outcomes of change. This tutorial demonstrates the critical connection between the people who are being expected to accept and participate in a change, and the realization of the desired outcomes of that change.

1. Benefit Realization, Results and
Outcomes: Begin with the End in Mind
July 2015 || Reproduced with permission from Prosci

2. © 2015 E Source || Reproduced with permission from Prosci || 2
Why do we do change management? To build excellent plans? To abide by best practices in business? To
appease our leadership team that decided we needed it? No. We apply change management because change
management has a distinct and pointed focus on benefit realization and achieving the desired results and
outcomes of change. It is for this reason that, when embarking on our change management journeys, we begin
with the end in mind. The end, in the case of change management, is driving successful change—this means
applying a structured approach to helping individual employees adopt and proficiently use changes that impact
them.
Prosci defines change management as “the application of a structured process and set of tools for leading the
people side of change to achieve a desired outcome.” It is not by accident that the phrase “achieve a desired
outcome” completes the definition. By framing change management in this results-oriented way, we not only
overcome the assumption that change management is merely the “soft side of change,” but we also build a
framework which has lent to growing credibility of the field of change management over the last decade.
This tutorial demonstrates the critical connection between the people who are being expected to accept and
participate in a change, and the realization of the desired outcomes of that change. To better explain the
connection, outlined below are two examples of comparable projects with very different outcomes.
IN BRIEF: Learn how to build your change management
discussions around project results and desired outcomes while
keeping the bottom line up front (BLUF) with two examples.
For almost 20 years, Prosci (www.prosci.com) has conducted global studies to benchmark change
management practices in a variety of industries. This research then informs the methodology
the company uses to empower organizations and individuals to change more easily, more
effectively, and with better results. This article was originally released by Prosci and the Change
Management Learning Center. ADKAR and Awareness Desire Knowledge Ability Reinforcement
are registered trademarks of Prosci Inc. All rights reserved.

3. © 2015 E Source || Reproduced with permission from Prosci || 3
If change management is not
applied on a project …
If change management is
applied on a project …
Organization A attempted to
implement a change where expense
reports were to be submitted
electronically, as they had been
traditionally submitted in hard copy
form. The potential benefits for
the organization were great: processing
costs would be lower, error rates would decline,
and the timeline of expense tracking would be
drastically shorter.
The project team ensured that the proper
software was in place and functioning.
Employees were mandated to attend training
on the new process. Over the next couple of
months, about half of the employees at the
organization participated in the new
expense reporting system, and 25% of those
submitted their reports incorrectly, resulting in
the accounting office having to re-do many of
the reports manually. In the end, the outcome
of a more efficient reporting system did
not meet its desired objectives, had greatly
surpassed the projected time allotted for
implementation, and, due to the rework
involved in retraining and managing resistance,
was pushed over budget.
Organization B also attempted to
implement an electronically
submitted expense report system.
Change management was
accounted for by the project team
from the beginning. Before sending
employees to training, they built an awareness
campaign sharing the reasons why the change
would be happening and how it would affect the
employees. Meanwhile, the project team, with
the help of change management resources,
ensured that all the key sponsors and managers
were onboard. This enabled them to create
desire and excitement around the change
and coach individual employees who needed
more attention. The project team designed a
training session tailored to the specific needs of
the workforce, and worked with managers and
supervisors to ensure that the speed of
adoption, ultimate utilization and proficiency of
the workforce were aligned with the desired
outcomes. Following the change implementation,
the project team ensured that the change was
reinforced in person and publicly by
rewarding and acknowledging compliance,
in addition to collecting feedback on how the
system or process could be improved.

4. © 2015 E Source || Reproduced with permission from Prosci || 4
16%
46%
77%
96%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Poor
(n=244)
Fair
(n=653)
Good
(n=834)
Excellent
(n=165)
Percentageofstudyparticipants
thatmetorexceededobjectives
Correlation of Change Management Effectiveness
to Meeting Project Objectives
© 2014 Prosci, Best Practices in Change
Management–2014 Edition
Note: Data from 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013.

5. © 2015 E Source || Reproduced with permission from Prosci || 5
BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND
What benefit does a new process deliver if no one follows it? What benefit does a new technology or system
create if no one uses it? Implementing a technical solution is only part of the equation. Ensuring that employees
embrace, adopt and proficiently use the technical solution is really where benefit realization occurs.
This relationship is further confirmed by correlation analysis showing that more effective change management
increases the likelihood of meeting project objectives. The return on investment (ROI) of change management
then, in a way, is the ROI of the project or initiative.
The intended results and outcomes of change are inextricably
connected to whether that change becomes part of how
employees do their jobs—which means that the ROI of a
project or initiative is directly related to how well the people
side of change is managed.

6. © 2015 E Source || Reproduced with permission from Prosci || 6
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR UTILITIES
Utilities always have an eye on the bottom line. Why should the motivations behind change
management be any different? By focusing on the benefits and outcome of the change, utilities can
get their management, employees, and customers on board and the change is more likely to be
adopted on an individual level, leading to overall success at the organizational level.
Insert your utility name and initiative in the previously mentioned case study and see what happens:
Utility B attempted to implement a new call-routing system in the contact center. Change
management was accounted for by the project team from the beginning. Before sending
employees to training, they built an awareness campaign sharing the reasons why the change
would be happening and how it would affect the call center staff. Meanwhile, the project team,
with the help of change management resources, ensured that all the key sponsors and managers
were on board. This enabled them to create desire and excitement around the change and
coach individual employees who needed more attention. The project team designed a training
session tailored to the specific needs of the workforce, and worked with managers and
supervisors to ensure that the speed of adoption, ultimate utilization, and proficiency of the
workforce were aligned with the desired outcomes (improved first-call resolution and
customer satisfaction in this case). Following the change implementation, the project team
ensured that the change was reinforced in person and publicly by rewarding and
acknowledging compliance, in addition to collecting feedback on how the system or process
could be improved.

7. © 2015 E Source || Reproduced with permission from Prosci || 7
CONCLUSION
Keep the BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front)
Organizations change for a reason, whether that is to: (A) be more competitive in the market, (B) improve
business processes, (C) cut costs or (D) all the above. Organizational change requires individual change—if
individuals do not embrace, adopt or become proficient at the required change, then benefits will not be
realized. Organizational outcomes are tied to the change being realized as a result of individual change; after
all, individual employees are the heart and soul of organizations, without them to do the work, the work will not
get done. Change management is an enabling framework for managing these individuals through change.
Therefore, we apply change management to (A) be more competitive in the market, (B) improve business
processes, (C) cut costs or (D) all the above. In other words, we apply change management to achieve the
desired outcomes of change. By beginning with the end (benefit realization) in mind, the application of change
management ensures that the majority of the workforce affected by the change embraces, adopts and is
proficient at the required change, which in turn results in the realization of the desired results and outcomes.
From this perspective, we see how the application of change management has a positive effect on employees
impacted by the change, in addition to an increase in the ROI by meeting project objectives, finishing on time
and finishing within budget.

8. © 2015 E Source || Reproduced with permission from Prosci || 8
MORE INFORMATION
About E Source
For 26 years, E Source has been providing research, consulting, and market research to more than 300 utilities
and their partners. This guidance helps our customers advance their efficiency programs, enhance customer
relationships, and use energy more efficiently. Visit www.esource.com to learn more.
About Prosci
Prosci’s uniquely integrated system of models, tools, and processes enables your organization to strategically
execute change at three levels: (1) With individuals through the popular Prosci® ADKAR® Model; (2) On projects
through the robust Prosci 3-Phase Process; (3) As a competency across the organization through the cutting-
edge Prosci Enterprise Change Management Suite. Prosci’s sole focus is helping individuals and organizations
build their own change management capability. Learn more at www.prosci.com.
Register for the free E Source web conference Deliver Business Results
with Utility Change Management: Learn the Seven Critical Factors for
Successful Change, being held on July 22, 2015, and join E Source and
Prosci for a utility-specific change management certification course,
September 14–16, 2015.