Gartner HR Research Finds Less Than Half of Employees Achieved the Change Goals Set by Their Organization

Just 45% of employees reported that they realized the change goals set by their organization according to Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company.

This research was showcased during Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo Conference, taking place here through today.

An April 2025 Gartner survey of nearly 1,000 mid- to senior-level business leaders revealed that more than one-third (36%) said their team is more likely to hesitate and delay action to see if changes will stick before adopting them. The survey also found that 39% of leaders believe change is a significant source of stress for their teams.

“Only one-quarter of the workforce is embracing change as quickly as desired and in a way that does not damage their health,” said Neal Woolrich, Director, Advisory in the Gartner HR practice. “Today’s change is ungovernable; it keeps changing, is more frequent, complex and faster paced. CHROs need a new approach for how to address change.”

To achieve healthy change adoption, organizations need to shift from focusing on detailed top-down guidance to employees and instead build change reflexes – core skills applicable to many different change scenarios that are practiced with enough repetition to become intuitive.

An April 2025 Gartner survey of more than 2,500 employees found that when employees applied a change reflex that was relevant to their situation, they were 3.5 times more likely to achieve healthy change adoption compared to those employees who did not apply a relevant change reflex. Employees’ mental well-being was 2.2 times better for those who applied a relevant change reflex to their situation compared to employees who did not use a change reflex.

Gartner has identified six reflexes that have the greatest impact on driving healthy change adoption:

• Openness to new experiences
• Effectively managing time
• Understanding the context in which the business operates
• Using technology effectively
• Working well with others
• Regulating emotions

Employees are said to have a change reflex if they are effective at that skill, had the chance to practice that skill in the past year, and report that skill felt like “second nature.”

HR should identify which change reflexes to develop by assessing the types of changes their organization is most likely to encounter. HR must then equip leaders to provide employees with opportunities to practice change reflexes via micro-moments – tasks in the regular course of work that share features of common change experiences – within their daily workflow.

“HR leaders are best positioned to determine how and when to measure change reflexes, and where the opportunities lie to incorporate change reflexes into existing talent management processes,” said Woolrich.

About Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo

Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo is where CHROs and their leadership teams gather each year to reimagine their strategies through the lens of Gartner’s research-driven insights and expert advice on leadership and learning, employee experience, culture and change, talent acquisition and workforce planning, and HR technology. Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo is being held October 7-9 in London, October 27-29 in Florida, and November 17-18 in Sydney. Follow news and updates from these events on LinkedIn using #GartnerHR.