Practicing Organization Development: Leading Transformation and Change, 4th Edition

Chapter TwelveMeasurement to Determine the Return on Change Management

Tim Creasey and D. Scott Ross

Organization development (OD) and change management (CM) make significant contributions to the achievement of change and organizational outcomes. Demonstrating the value of CM to organizations and leaders is an ongoing challenge. Effective CM is correlated with project success; however, executives and project leaders regularly press CM practitioners to measure their impact and show their value (Creasey and Taylor 2014). This chapter provides a concept-driven, research-based model for measuring CM and showing the contribution that effective CM makes to delivering change results.

Multi-layered, Holistic Measurement

The Prosci® Change Measurement Framework™ is based on years of benchmarking research conducted by Prosci. In Prosci's 2013 research effort, study participants answered several new questions on CM measurement (Creasey and Taylor 2014). Analysis of responses produced the Prosci Change Measurement Framework™ comprising three levels: Organizational Performance, Individual Performance, and Change Management Performance, and three timeframes for measurement—early, mid-term, and late. The framework balances activity and outcomes measures to create a holistic assessment of CM's impact.

To provide a common platform for the measurement discussion, CM will be defined as “the application of processes and tools to manage the people side of change from a current state to a new future ...