In learning and development, we know that you can roll out a new system, restructure a team, or announce a new strategy in your nonprofit, and still find people working the same way they always have, even with training.
In this episode of Learning for Good, I break down why organizational change doesn't stick and which workplace behavior change strategies help the new way become the normal way.
Training and a clear message matter, but they aren't the only things people need. Behavior changes when the surrounding conditions make the new behavior the default.
▶️ Key Points:
00:00 Why Workplace Behavior Change Feels So Hard
04:58 The Real Unit of Organizational Change
08:14 Example: Turning a Problem-Solving Manager into a Coach
11:38 Questions to Ask When Organizational Change Doesn't Stick
Why Organizational Change Can Stall Even After Training
Your organization can implement a change without ever changing.
A new system can go live. A team can be restructured. Leadership can announce a different strategy. Everyone can attend training and understand what they are supposed to do next.
Yet the work can continue almost exactly as before.
This is one reason organizational change can be so frustrating. We often treat the official change — the launch, announcement, new process, or training — as the moment the organization changed. But the day-to-day experience of the organization is created by what people actually do.
The real unit of organizational change is individual behavior.
That means the question is not only whether people understand the new way. It is whether the conditions around them help the new behavior become the normal way.
Why Knowing What to Do Is Not Enough to Change Behavior
Most of us have experienced this in our own lives.
I would love to be a morning person. In the middle of the day, it sounds great: wake up early, drink coffee in the quiet, walk the dog, and have time to think and plan before the day starts.
Then the alarm goes off at 5:00 a.m.
The behavior I want is simple: get up earlier. But making that behavior sustainable requires changing the conditions around it. If I want to wake up earlier and still get enough sleep, I probably need to go to bed earlier. Sleep quality matters too. So do the choices I make during the day.
I cannot simply set the alarm and expect sustained behavior change.
The same is true at work. We often ask employees to make changes far more complex than waking up earlier, but we still act as if telling them what to do—or training them how to do it—should be enough.
Training may solve a knowledge or skill gap. But if the environment continues rewarding the old behavior, the old behavior still has an advantage.
The Conditions That Shape Workplace Behavior Change
To make a new behavior the default, we have to look beyond the behavior itself.
In the episode, I name several conditions that can affect whether change sticks: expectations, the environment, friction, motivation, manager behavior, systems and processes, reinforcement, competing priorities, cues, repeatable practice, and social norms.
These conditions show up in practical ways.
If a manager keeps asking employees about the old behavior in one-on-ones, people will prepare to talk about it. If performance is still evaluated using outcomes the old behavior makes easier to achieve, people have a reason to keep doing things the old way. If employees are overloaded and the old process is faster, the old process may win even when everyone agrees the new process is better.
This is why organizational change can stall even when no one openly resists it. People can believe in the change and still work inside an environment that keeps pulling them backward.
Ask Why the Old Behavior Is Still Winning
When a change doesn't stick, our first instinct can be to add something. Another training. Another reminder. Another communication from leadership.
Sometimes those things are useful. But before adding more, I would diagnose what is already happening.
Ask: Why is the old behavior still winning?
Then work through questions like these:
What makes the old behavior easier to do?
What is rewarding or reinforcing it?
What are leaders modeling or prioritizing?
What systems or processes were designed for the old way?
What happens under pressure?
What cues someone to use the new behavior?
Where can they practice it often enough for it to become more natural?
Those questions help us understand whether we are looking at a learning problem, an environment problem, or some combination of both.
How to Replace an Old Behavior with a New One
Consider a nonprofit manager who has a habit of solving every problem employees bring to them.
The manager is trying to be helpful. Someone has a problem, and the manager has the experience to solve it quickly. Over time, answering becomes the automatic response.
Now imagine the organization wants managers to coach employees instead. Rather than providing the solution, managers should ask questions that help employees work through the problem themselves.
Training can absolutely support that change. Managers may need to learn what good coaching looks like. They may need to practice questions such as, “What have you already tried?” or “What could you do next?”
But the behavior change opportunity is bigger than teaching the technique.
The manager’s desire to help doesn't have to disappear. We can redirect it. Instead of helping by providing the answer, the manager helps by building the employee’s ability to solve the next problem.
We are not simply removing an old behavior. We are replacing it with another behavior that serves a similar underlying motivation in a more useful way.
Why the New Behavior Still Needs Organizational Support
Even a well-designed replacement behavior may not be used when the surrounding conditions still favor the old one.
Imagine a manager who has learned how to coach and wants to use the new approach. But the organization rewards speed. Senior leaders expect quick answers. The manager has too many competing priorities. Coaching an employee through the problem takes longer than simply fixing it.
When the pressure rises, what is likely to happen?
The manager answers.
The behavior may change briefly after training, but the habit never becomes strong enough to overcome the environment. The scale is still tipped toward the old way.
To make the new behavior stick, we have to change enough of the surrounding conditions so the new way becomes realistic in the moments when people are busiest, most stressed, and most likely to fall back on habit.
How L&D Can Help Make the New Way the Normal Way
This is where learning leaders can expand the way we think about our role in organizational change.
Our responsibility is not simply to make sure people heard the message and completed the training. We can help the organization understand which behaviors need to change and which conditions will support or compete with them.
That may mean partnering with managers so they reinforce the new behavior in one-on-ones. It may mean identifying systems or processes that still reward the old way. It may mean creating opportunities for repeatable practice, adding useful cues at the moment of need, or helping leaders understand what they need to model consistently.
Training is still part of the strategy when a knowledge or skill gap exists. But the strategy gets stronger when we design the environment around the behavior as thoughtfully as we design the learning experience.
The next time a change is not sticking, resist the urge to assume people are resistant or need another workshop immediately.
Get curious about the old behavior.
Why is it still winning?
What is making it easier to choose?
What would have to change for the new behavior to become the normal one?
Those questions can move us much closer to change that actually sticks.
To hear more, listen to Episode 210 of Learning for Good: Why Organizational Change Stalls when Habits Don't Shift.
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