A report crossed my desk recently that unpacks what drives and what derails change success. It goes without saying that we are currently living and working in a time when change is happening at a faster pace than ever before due to a number of factors such as technology innovation, geopolitical factors, climate change, and much more. Understanding what leads to the greatest change success—and what sets it off course—could be critical in the years ahead.
The study by The Grossman Group, which is an internal change communications consultancy, was conducted online by The Harris Poll. Two surveys were conducted to capture both employee and leadership perspectives on enterprise change. The first, done June 2025, polled 905 full-time employees (18 years and older) in U.S. for-profit organizations. The second, conducted in two waves in June and July 2025, surveyed 256 business leaders (VP level and above) who manage teams in for-profit organizations.
Here’s what it found. One in four major change efforts fail, which leads to burnout, dissatisfaction, workload spikes, and turnover. Technology, more specifically AI (artificial intelligence) is one of the most frequent and difficult changes. 83% of leaders expect AI to play a major role in future change, and 1 in 4 say it’s the hardest change to implement.
What can help? Let’s explore a few ideas from the survey.
Slow down. Recognize employees can only handle so much change. Most employees can absorb 1-2 major changes per year, yet more than 50% of business leaders expect to implement three or more in the next two years.
Show up. Visible leadership can make or break change. Organizations are 5.5 times more likely to fail without visible leadership and without effective communication.
Communicate, communicate, communicate. Organizations are three times more likely to succeed in major change when employees are fully bought in. Clear and credible communication doubles success rates.
Internal communication within an organization cannot be underestimated. External communication is also key, especially in the construction industry where there are a number of stakeholders that need to be in the loop.
The importance of communication is illustrated in another study in the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) industry. FIELDBOSS surveyed 1,000 U.S. homeowners who had hired an HVAC professional in the past 12 months. Let’s unpack the results.
Roughly 95% of respondents were satisfied with their last HVAC service. Yet 21% cited “costs higher than expected” as a top frustration. An even larger share (around 38% in total) pointed to communication problems like scheduling difficulty, lack of updates, late arrivals, or feeling pressured to buy extras.
Most homeowners prefer phone calls, while some like text messages and a small amount like online app booking. Only 6% had no strong preference, which means most customers have strong, yet different, preferences for how companies should communicate.
The bottomline is communication reigns supreme both internally and externally in the construction industry. As the pace of change continues to speed up, how will your company adjust and adapt for change? Your business success just might depend on the answer to that question.
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