Beth Banks Cohn discusses making the business case for change management. She outlines common objections to funding change management initiatives and provides tactics to quantify the financial impact of change. These include calculating costs from lost productivity, employee turnover, and potential PR disasters without proper change management. Cohn argues that effective change management directly impacts business success and the bottom line, delivering immediate and sustained return on investment.

1. MAKING THE BUSINESS CASE
FOR CHANGE MANAGEMENT

2. INTRODUCTION
SPEAKER:
Beth Banks Cohn
• Founder and President of ADRA Change Architects
• 20+ years of change management and coaching experience
• MA in Human Resources Education, MA in Organization
Development, PhD in Human and Organizational Systems
• Clients include Johnson & Johnson, Novo Nordisk, Shire, Fougera
• @bethbankscohn
MODERATOR:
Sarah Welstead
• Communications strategist
• @sarahwelstead

3. OVERVIEW
 The problem
 The reality
 The big question
 How do you get to the ROI of Change?
 5 tactics to get buy-in from almost everyone

4. THE PROBLEM:
No one wants to pay for change management
• “A project manager and some
software will do it all, right?”
• „Change goals‟ are often
confused with „change
strategy‟
• Change has become just
another workstream
• Leaders don‟t always equate
successful change with a
better bottom line

5. THE REALITY:
‘Change’ without ‘change management’
means less money on the bottom line
• Unmanaged change means
• Lost productivity
• Lost top talent
• Lost clients
• Lost revenue
• Companies who practice change
management typically see
15-35% more revenue on the
bottom line than those that don‟t

6. THE BIG QUESTION:
Why doesn’t everyone know this?
• Change management is still seen
as a touchy-feely HR function –
and a cost centre
• “Business moves at the speed of
change – employees are used to
it by now.”
• When change fails, no one takes
a holistic look at „why?‟

7. • Start with a business case – don‟t „build‟ a
business case
• Focus on the bottom line
• Communicate in business
terms – and don‟t be vague
• Keep it simple
CHANGE AS A STRATEGIC BUSINESS FUNCTION:
How do you get to the ROI of Change?

8. But how do you convince
the eye-rollers who think
you’re just another cost
centre?

9. Start talking in terms your
audience will understand:
Dollars and cents.

10. 5 tactics to help you get
buy-in from almost
everyone

11. • Badly managed change can drive your „A‟ players and
critical employees out the door
• Using the Drake staffing calculator, losing 5 senior
managers with an average salary of $110,000 each
represents a cost of $5.7 million
TACTIC #1:
Quantify the cost of losing key employees

12. • This doesn‟t have to be some vague, possible outcome
• You can quantify it - and the numbers start to add up:
• 2000 employees
• Each spends 30 minutes a week for 3 months overcoming
change challenges (lost productivity, lack of engagement)
• That‟s 12,000 hours of lost time
• At a blended cost of $150/hour, that just cost the company
$1.8 million
TACTIC #2:
Quantify the loss of productivity

13. • “Company X seems to be in some sort of transition
period and I‟m not sure where they‟re going. So
instead I‟ll…
• …take my business elsewhere.”
• …take my A-list employability elsewhere.”
• …take my investment dollars elsewhere.”
TACTIC #3:
Cost of the loss of market confidence

14. TACTIC #4:
Demonstrate how it will meet business goals
- and what this means for revenue
• Look beyond the 3- or 6-month change timeline:
• A successful change will lead to $X million increased
sales in Year 1
• …which will lead to $X million increased sales in Year 2
• Today‟s change investment will deliver ROI for several
years to come
• Focusing on change management makes your project:
• More efficient
• Run smoother, faster
• Able to hit milestones effectively

15. • When communication around change isn‟t handled
skillfully, negative leaks can cost money, reputation
and PR fees
• Change communication can‟t be managed with an
Excel spreadsheet or MSProject Plan from the PMO
• Change communication is also not typical PR. It is a
specialized type of communication.
TACTIC #5:
Cost of potential PR disasters

16. • “What‟s in it for me?”
• Spend less time talking about concepts like „the
employees‟ or „the shareholders‟ and more time
demonstrating how the people in the room will
personally benefit from well-managed change
BONUS TACTIC:
The WIIFM approach

17. THE BOTTOM LINE
• Effective change management directly affects
success and the bottom line. The „bottom line‟
never goes out of style.
• It‟s easier than you think to quantify the ROI of
good change management
• Change handled badly is never over – and never
stops costing money. Change handled well delivers
an immediate, measurable and sustained ROI

18. DON’T LOSE HOPE
• Good change management is about increasing a
company‟s bottom line. Period.
• Change management isn‟t dying – it‟s changing
• It‟s easier to get what you need when you make the
business case – not the emotional one

19. DISCUSSION

20. END

21. Want to talk more? Email Beth at
beth@adrachangearchitects.com
to set up an appointment.