Change can mean many different things for an organization. On one hand, it is positive and ensures growth on both individual and organizational scales, which is key to improvement. On the other hand, it is often challenging and requires resilience from all despite uncertain outcomes and differing reactions. More times than not, change is a combination of the two; while difficult in the short-term, it is necessary to long-term organizational success. With this context, it is clear why organizations invest so much into change management.

When change is unexpected, rapid or highly impactful, one of the first things organizational leaders must consider is the continuance of day-to-day and strategic operations. These concepts of business continuity and stability are pillars in successful change management because, when organizations are prepared for both the expected and unexpected, they can quickly adapt to the shifting needs of their audience and overcome obstacles more efficiently and effectively.

For example, if a new system is being implemented within an organization, the change must be managed in a way that work is not delayed as it is integrated into existing processes. However, simply putting the system in place is not enough — there must be a way for employees to learn it!

Ties to Learning

Success of both the continued operations during a change and the change itself stems from an equally successful learning strategy.

In a continuity-driven learning plan, one could expect to find:

1. Skill development at the forefront: By regularly investing into the people at an organization, company loyalty is built, and employees are more likely to do what must be done to see the change through.
2. Collaborative learning paths: When learners can experience what others do for an organization while simultaneously developing company-wide relationships, the organization is well propositioned to manage small- and large-scale changes through communication. By infusing this collaborative cross-training early and often into the learning strategy, organizations can mitigate the loss of valuable resources such as budget, time, or people.
3. A central theme of trust: Change almost always prompts questions that can often be difficult for leaders to answer in the moment. However, by remaining transparent and giving employees the time and space to react and gauge their feelings about the change, a stronger sense of trust is built that ultimately leads to sustained operations. This should be a core element of all learning opportunities and as a result, when change does happen, people feel heard and leaders are trusted.

Building a Mutually Beneficial Strategy

Both learning and business continuity efforts revolve around strategic goals, so implementing them together can streamline organizational efforts.

Some ways to get started are:

1. Focus on the analysis process. By measuring the impact of learning, organizations can also monitor the effectiveness of a change.
2. Be proactive. If leadership can get in front of a change through learning opportunities and communication, they should. Tying these efforts back to both strategies ensures alignment and clarity for all — an important element of change and learning management.
3. Getting stakeholder input early and often. One person alone cannot define nor implement strategies around learning or business continuity. Having a team of various experiences, tenures and thought leaders ensures the strategies are in line with the organization and feasible to the people most involved.

Understanding the Dynamic

Undoubtedly, it is confusing and stressful to go through change. It can be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel, especially when multiple changes occur at one time. However, by turning to learning, organizational leaders can build the foundations for successful business continuity and change management. The cultural and operational learning within an organization is to sustain the business and, in turn, the business is able to successfully manage the change thanks to learning.

In this way, the dynamic between learning and business continuity is simply that one cannot exist without the other. In seeing this relationship, it becomes clear that the best change management and learning strategies both prioritize people first – continuing to be there for one another is the most effective way to manage change.