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Change was never optional—not in the personal sphere and definitely not in the business sphere. In a world where markets are constantly shifting, technologies evolving, and customer expectations rapidly growing, tackling change effectively is now more important now than ever.
Companies that fail to manage change risk failure. The average organization already clocks five major changes in three years. Yet, only 34% of changes are deemed successful.
Brands like Mattel and Mary Kay are great examples of successful change management. Their techniques make them better equipped to navigate disruption, align teams with strategic goals, and turn challenges into opportunities for growth.
It’s clear that with the right tools and approach, you’re not just managing change, you’re leading it.
In this blog post, we’ll take you through the basics of change management and supplement it with change management examples of organizations that have achieved commendable results.
What Is Change Management?
Change management helps organizations adopt new technologies, processes, or cultures effectively. It includes executing change and managing it effectively such that it sticks with your team and contributes to long-term business success.
The process of change management involves three key steps:
- Planning: Defining issues, defining objectives, and developing a plan
- Implementation: Rolling out changes in phases with clear communication
- Reinforcement: Providing ongoing support, measuring outcomes, and making adjustments to ensure lasting success
Why Is Change Management Important?
Change management ensures every transition, whether it involves system processes or organizational objectives, is handled efficiently. It minimizes disruptions through clear communication, structured support, and training, fostering a positive environment for higher adoption rates and lower resistance.
The payoff is real: companies with effective change management strategies are 7x more likely to meet or exceed their project goals. Here’s what examples of change management can teach us:
- Minimizing Disruptions During Transitions: Change management helps identify and deal with risks at early stages. For instance, many companies transitioning from traditional software to a cloud-based model leveraged change management strategies in conjunction with Azure to enhance IT security, optimize costs, and gain a competitive edge.
- Improving Employee Adoption: Employees often resist change due to a lack of transparency, proper tools, and efficient processes. Structured change management activities can provide your team with the training, support, and guidance they need to embrace new systems.
- Avoiding the Cost of Failure: Neglecting change management can be costly. For instance, failed digital programs cost businesses $2.3 trillion every year. Effective change management reduces complexity, prevents wasting critical resources, and lowers turnover rates.
Top 7 Change Management Examples for 2025
Having discussed the basics, here are seven change management process examples that demonstrate how organizations achieved commendable results.
1. Global Bank
A top North American financial institution with over 26 million customers struggled to adopt Clarity PPM software due to its complex navigation. Employees faced frequent data entry errors, reduced productivity, and heavy reliance on support teams, all worsened by inadequate training.
These challenges delayed return on investment (ROI) and created organizational inefficiencies.
Steps Taken
Faced with mounting frustrations over Clarity PPM’s usability, the Global Bank turned to Apty, a Digital Adoption Platform (DAP), to simplify the software adoption process and improve efficiency.
Apty provided in-app guidance, enabling employees to navigate the software with ease and reducing dependence on support teams. Data validation tools were rolled out to improve accuracy while proactive analytics pinpointed training gaps, allowing the bank to fine-tune its employee programs.
Results
- 30 Days Reduced in Adoption Time: Employees were onboarded in just three months, down from over a year.
- $275,000 Saved in Training Costs: In-app guidance replaced extensive training sessions while Apty’s analytics and reporting capabilities gave leadership valuable insights to improve training and onboarding.
- Reduction in Maintenance Expenses: Apty’s capabilities led to 80% savings in maintenance and support.
With Apty’s support, the bank improved data hygiene, eliminated manual entry errors and improved employee productivity and efficiency.
2. ChenMed
ChenMed is a family-owned and physician-led primary care company that has over 80 centers across 12 states in the US. It found implementing Workday’s HCM suite a daunting task.
Employees struggled to navigate through the system, leading to inconsistencies in training and low interaction rates. It delayed new hires from adapting to their roles, hindering ChenMed’s operational goals.
Steps Taken
Apty streamlined onboarding with step-by-step instructions, ensuring accurate task completion and compliance.
Real-time data validation reduced errors, while actionable analytics identified employee challenges. This allowed ChenMed to address bottlenecks and enhance usability, enabling new employees to adapt quickly and execute tasks efficiently.
Results
- Enhanced Employee Engagement: Improved workflows and support increased satisfaction with the system.
- Significant Reduction In Support Tickets: Fewer employees required help desk assistance, decreasing operational overheads.
- Improved Training Compliance: Centralized and accessible materials ensured better adherence to company policies.
ChenMed’s example of change management and collaboration with Apty enabled the organization to avoid the hidden cost of Workday implementation.
3. US Airline
One of the largest US airlines in the world, operating over 800 aircrafts and serving more than 300 destinations in 52 countries, faced significant hurdles while adopting the Clarity PPM software.
While critical for managing engineering project planning and compliance reporting, the software was challenging for engineers to maneuver. They struggled with complex forms and multiple navigation options that traditional training methods and user guides couldn’t assist with. This created concerns for enterprise software adoption and ROI.
Steps Taken
The airline leveraged Apty to introduce guided workflows that helped engineers navigate Clarity PPM with greater ease. Combined with real-time data validations, change management, and training, Apty’s digital adoption platform reinforced compliance.
For instance, the Announcements feature sped up communications without needing additional document updates or team retraining while Validations helped fix errors in real time.
Results
- 3x Increase in Productivity: Tasks previously taking an hour were completed in less than 10 minutes with bite-sized chunks of details.
- Greater Efficiency: Completion time on Clarity PPM was cut by 70% while project authoring and approval time reduced by more than half.
- Time Savings: Time and effort on handling support tickets went down, saving the airline 100s of hours.
Apty’s tailored solutions transformed the airline’s engineering operations, leading to higher employee productivity and satisfaction, coupled with a cut in support tickets and training time.
4. Mary Kay
Mary Kay, a global beauty company, relies on over three million independent representatives to drive sales across multiple countries. This geographically-diverse operation presented challenges in consistent training and onboarding for its independent contractors.
Additionally, high volumes of support tickets from users navigating its website hampered efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Steps Taken
Mary Kay partnered with Apty to enhance training, onboarding, and website usability.
Apty introduced digital onboarding directly within the Salesforce Community and Commerce pages, offering personalized training in 15 languages across 24 countries. Creating multilingual content allowed Mary Kay to ensure global consistency in training delivery.
What’s more, Apty improved website navigation, reducing dependency on support teams.
Results
- Fewer Support Tickets: With reliance on the help desk reduced, Mary Kay enjoyed a drop in operational costs.
- Boosted Productivity: Streamlined processes allowed teams to focus on more critical tasks.
- Enhanced Customer Experience: Improved navigation and training supported sales growth.
- Global Accessibility: Multilingual learning material ensured consistency in training across 24 countries.
Apty’s solutions transformed Mary Kay’s digital operations, driving efficiency and growth.
5. HMRC
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) launched the Making Tax Digital (MTD) program in 2015-16 to modernize the UK tax system. However, HMRC faced several major challenges.
The original timelines for the project underestimated the complexity of the transition leading to delays and higher costs. Old systems made the process even harder, with risks of service interruptions and potential cyberattacks during the move to digital.
Many taxpayers and delivery partners were slow to adapt to the new system, and there was resistance to change.
Steps Taken
HMRC prioritized digital engagement, achieving 93% awareness among businesses by 2022, and successfully digitized 3.2 million VAT records by 2023. Timelines were adjusted to reflect the complexity of transitioning to other tax systems, while consultations with businesses and agents addressed cost and usability concerns.
Collaborating with software providers ensured businesses had access to compatible tools for digital tax compliance.
Results
- £185-£195 Million VAT Revenue Increase: The additional revenue generated in 2019-20 exceeded the initial forecast of £115 million.
- Business Benefits: By 2022, 69% of businesses using MTD software reported benefits such as faster tax return preparation.
- Projected Long-Term Tax Revenue Growth: The MTD program is expected to generate £3.9 billion in additional tax revenue by 2033–34, with a 2:1 benefit-cost ratio.
6. GSK London
Following a merger and new leadership, GSK London, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, recognized the need to overhaul its approach to change management. It faced challenges aligning operations and lacked a unified change management framework.
Fragmented processes created inefficiencies, and leadership skepticism about a unified approach further complicated implementation.
Steps Taken
GSK launched the Accelerating Delivery and Performance (ADP) program, incorporating project management, organizational development, and Lean Six Sigma.
The ADP framework, based on 6 principles, including self-accountability and measurable goals, introduced beacon projects to build leadership trust. A “Forum, Fieldwork, Feedback” method was used to teach, coach, and refine change practices.
Results
- Improved Business Operations: Aligned business strategies with execution plans led to enhanced operational efficiency.
- Regulatory Success: Enabled timely submissions for five new drug applications to global regulatory bodies.
- Global Reach: Expanded the ADP program to reach emerging markets, improving engagement and operational processes.
- Leadership Alignment: Gained leadership trust through beacon projects, ensuring long-term commitment to the change framework.
- Sustained Change: Certified 1,250 ADP practitioners to maintain and scale the program.
Worth Your Time: 15 Change Management Questions to Ask in 2025
7. Mattel
Mattel, the global toy company behind iconic brands like Barbie, struggled with Workday HCM platform adoption during a global HR systems replacement.
Inconsistent internal processes led to high technical support tickets and outreach issues. With an employee cohort of over 9,000 engaging in six different languages, Mattel needed a solution that could be replicated quickly whilst maintaining onboarding efficiency.
Steps Taken
Mattel partnered with Apty to introduce interactive, personalized and on-demand guides in over five languages to make navigating Workday easier. It empowered task ownership across employees and improved completion.
Results
- 90% Utilization in 60 Days: Employees adapted to Workday quickly, completing tasks with greater accuracy.
- Significant Drop in Support Tickets: Easier navigation guides cut down support ticket volumes.
- Improved Productivity: Apty streamlined 30+ business processes and provided training in multiple languages, helping employees complete tasks faster and with more accuracy.
- Enhanced Leadership Confidence: Leadership trusted employees to execute tasks correctly, strengthening organizational performance.
Mattel’s change management journey with Apty highlights the power of tailored solutions in turning challenges into wins for global teams.
Structured change management is among the most significant trends that will impact companies in 2025. Organizations that prioritize employee engagement while adapting to structural changes and aligning their processes with strategic goals stand to gain higher success rates when adopting advanced tools.
Apty effectively navigates change management through a variety of features, including:
On-demand and contextual guidance
Apty provides employees with real-time, step-by-step guidance directly within the applications they use, ensuring they can adapt to new processes without disruption. This reduces training time and improves productivity during transitions.
Advanced analytics for progress tracking
Apty’s advanced analytics offer insights into user behavior and adoption rates, allowing organizations to monitor progress and identify roadblocks. This ensures smoother change implementation and continuous improvement.
Workflow personalization
Apty enables organizations to tailor workflows to meet the specific needs of teams and departments. This personalization ensures that changes are relevant, efficient, and aligned with business goals, driving higher adoption rates.
With a DAP like Apty, change doesn’t have to feel like a challenge.
Apty equips your organization with everything it needs to embrace change confidently. Book a demo to see how this platform transforms disruption into opportunity and sets your organization up for lasting success.
FAQs
- What is an example of change in the workplace?
An example of workplace change is implementing a new system. For instance, how Mattel implemented Workday HCM. It could also refer to changes in management, processes, or organizational structure.
- What are the 7Cs of change management?
The 7Cs include clarity (goals), commitment (buy-in), capability (training), collaboration (teamwork), communication (updates), continuity (smooth transitions), and celebration (acknowledging success).
- How do you explain change management?
Change management is the process of organizing and managing organizational shifts in systems, processes, or management with planning, communication, training, and support for success.
