EY’s latest research with Saïd Business School, at the University of Oxford, reveals new insights into what happens when a transformation program’s leadership believes a transformation has or will go off-course and intervenes with the intent of improving its performance (turning points).

According to the joint research based on analysis of 846 senior leaders, and 840 workforce members, across 23 countries and 16 industry sectors and five qualitative case studies, turning points are ubiquitous in nearly all transformation programs. 96% of respondents experienced at least one turning point over the course of a project, with 76% citing them as unavoidable in today’s unpredictable business environment.

Data from the three-year collaboration with the EY organization and Oxford Saïd has highlighted that “transformations are not linear and that, along with global volatility and the increased speed of disruption, new thinking is demanded around how leaders must navigate these turning points while also addressing the changing environment inside and outside of an organization. The data reveals that at the center of this new thinking are humans.”

The research finds that “when leaders fail to take a human-centric approach to navigating turning points, the transformation program is 1.6x more likely to underperform and 3.5x more likely to leave workers experiencing negative emotions, such as anxiety, fear, and apprehension towards future change.”

Yet, those who take an adaptive, people-centered view to a turning point “are more likely to successfully steer the program back on course and can also potentially double (2.1x) the speed of the overall transformation program, improve the wider program performance against key performance indicators (KPIs) by nearly two-fold (1.9x) and support workforce readiness for the next transformation program (1.9x).”

The study revealed a three-step human-centered approach — Sensing, Sense-making and Acting — that enhances the overall transformation chances of success by a factor of 12:

• Sensing: Focusing on early detection by looking beyond traditional lagging KPIs to behavioral and emotional changes of the people involved in the transformation.
• Sense-making: Identifying and addressing root causes of issues in collaboration with team members across the transformation program.
• Acting: Reinforcing the six key drivers that set the conditions for successful transformations include engaged leadership, collaboration, fostering a culture of inspiration, empowerment, care and, finally, recognition of the emotional impact of technology.

Errol Gardner, EY Global Vice Chair, Consulting says that “constant agility and transformation is at the heart of business performance and value creation for our clients in today’s environment. Our joint research with Oxford Saïd has opened a new perspective on the role and nature of emotional energy during pivotal moments in transformation programs and, rather than be viewed as noise or a barrier, they can instead serve as an opportunity to increase transformation success. This is what brings our concept of Humans@center to life.”

Andrew White, Senior Fellow in Management Practice, Said Business School, University of Oxford, says that “this research is incredibly significant and is the result of years of dedicated, collaborative work between EY and Saïd Business School. In a world preoccupied with artificial intelligence and machine-learning, our study shows that human behavior is the most prescient influence in driving transformation. Applying the three-step approach of Sensing, Sense-making, and Acting enhances the chances of success by a factor of 12, making this human-centric approach crucial to leaders in the development, steering process, and delivery of transformation programs.”

The study says it has “identified a new standard in helping leaders and their teams deliver transformation programs smoothly that moves beyond traditional KPI measurements and places a spotlight on the importance of comprehending the impact and role of human emotions as benchmarks in a transformation, demonstrating the power of placing humans at the center.”

To read the full report, please visit ey.com/humans.