Thursday, May 14, 2009

Washington, D.C. 4/15/2009 – A new online survey, by leading change management firm Maurer & Associates Inc., of the challenge of change in organizations today found 33 percent of leaders were more successful at implementing major change during the last 12 months than in the last 5 years. This contrasts with 14 percent who stated they were less successful and 31 percent who experienced no change.

Survey responses also revealed that 48 percent of organizations have experienced rapid major change during this recession, and 29 percent of respondents believe the economic recession has positively impacted their employee's readiness to change. At the same time, only 20 percent of the respondents believed they were highly skilled at leading or managing these rapid changes while 55 percent believed they were somewhat skilled.

"Business leaders are demonstrating the importance of developing strong change management skills. One of the most remarkable findings was that 69 percent of respondents indicated they were involved in or impacted by major change in their organization several times a year," said Rick Maurer, president of Maurer & Associates, Inc. and best-selling business book author. "Given the constant demand to change and people's natural resistance to change, leaders will have to become much more effective at effectively leading change."

In addition to discovering the frequency of major change and the success rate of major change, the survey also looked at the time it takes to implement major change. Over 36 percent of organizations responded that it takes 1 year to less than 3 years to fully implement a major change while 23 percent said it takes 6 months to less than 1 year.

According to Maurer, "It's never too late to build strong change management skills, even if your change project has derailed. New skills can be learned to move your project back on track."

The full survey results are available at: http://www.changewithoutmigraines.com/opensource/osp.htm (Scroll to bottom of the page to see the results.)

Contact Information

Website: Visit Maurer & Associates website at www.BeyondResistance.com

Phone: 703-525-7074

Email: Robin Kramer at robin@beyondresistance.com

Blog: www.ChangeManagementNews.com

Fax: 703-525-0183

About Maurer & Associates:

Maurer & Associates has helped hundreds of large and small organizations, from Lockheed Martin to Rohm & Haas, understand and implement change. Now, through live forums and podcasts they show people how they can lead change on their own. For Rick Maurer's Open Source Project, including the free ebook "Introduction to Change without Migraines", visit, http://www.changewithoutmigraines.com/OpenSourceProject.htm or call 703-525-7074.

Maurer & Associates works with leaders who want to Lead Change without Migraines™. They provide the expertise to help leaders identify even deeply hidden resistance, overcome it rapidly, and implement even the most difficult strategic and tactical changes. Their approach to leading change is unique. Knowing how to work with resistance is key to turning skepticism and opposition into support for major new initiatives. If leaders understand resistance they can often avoid it before it occurs - or get things back on track when a change is about to derail. Clients have included Lockheed Martin, Deloitte & Touche, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AOL, National GeoSpatial Intelligence, Rohm & Haas, Syngenta, Charles Schwab, Verizon, National Education Association, The Washington Post, NASA, Tulane University Hospital, Kaiser Permanente and many government agencies.

Website visitors can become part of Maurer & Associates user community by signing up for their free "Tools for a Change" online newsletter at www.BeyondResistance.com.

Rick Maurer offers advice on Change Management in his books: "Beyond the Wall of Resistance" and "Why Don't You Want What I Want?". Books by Rick Maurer are available online at www.Amazon.com or on Maurer & Associates website www.BeyondResistance.com

Book Titles by Rick Maurer:

Beyond the Wall of Resistance

Why Don't You Want What I Want?

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