As companies continue to invest in transformation initiatives, new research shows those that treat change management as a durable, always-on business capability could see better returns

NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Key takeaways

• Transformation often falls short of intended business value: Across a group of 1,000 C-suite and executive leaders responsible for large-scale change initiatives, 70% say their latest transformation initiative failed to deliver its intended value.
• The tension between ambition and readiness is most visible in AI: Just 41% of change leaders report that their company has seen a strong positive ROI on their AI investments, and 59% say AI overload is negatively affecting their employees.
• Employees are feeling the strain of transformation: Sixty-nine percent of respondents say their most recent change initiative increased employee workload and burnout, 68% say there was at least one form of employee resistance and 45% say poorly managed change has contributed to the departure of high-performing employees.
• There’s a business argument for funding change management as a standing capability: Sixty percent of change leaders say their company treats change management as a project cost, not a business capability. Eighty-three percent say poor change management contributed to unrealized business value for their most recent initiative.

Why this matters
Organizations are managing more simultaneous transformation initiatives while their change management initiatives struggle to keep pace and employees feel the strain, according to the “Deloitte + Workplace Intelligence 2026 Deloitte Change Management Study.” While respondents reported challenges with adoption, the research found that every $1 invested in change management was associated with $4 in realized business value, suggesting that there could be significant returns in getting it right.

Greater investment also correlates with stronger adoption, as companies that invested the most in change management were 1.7 times more likely to report that employee adoption was very successful and exceeded expectations. However, the research also suggests that realizing the full value of that investment may demand more than simply increased dollars. If not done right as a standing business capability, it can lead to unexpected costs.

In fact, 66% of surveyed change leaders said employees left their company as a direct result of their most recent initiative at an estimated average of $20.5 million in turnover-related expenses. Among change leaders overseeing AI implementation initiatives specifically, the average turnover-related cost climbs to $25.5 million, and 61% feel AI transformation is moving faster than employees can handle.

But change isn’t slowing down. Closing the gap between investment and impact requires organizations to rethink change management itself. Rather than treating it as a one-time project expense, organizations should build change as an enduring business capability, one that strengthens their ability to absorb disruption, accelerate adoption, and realize value as transformation becomes continuous.

Key quote
“Change is no longer something organizations can manage one initiative at a time — it’s a constant operating reality. The organizations that build change into how they operate, with the right visibility into workforce capacity and support embedded into the flow of work, could be better positioned to turn transformation investments into sustained business value.”

— Allyson Dake, US Strategy and Technology Change Market Offering leader, Deloitte

Five priorities for building an always-on change capability
The research identifies five priorities organizations can consider as they build a more enduring change capability:

1. Embed change capability into everyday work.
   Organizations are nearly split between traditional change management (52%), centered on communications, training and change champions, and modern approaches (48%) such as embedding always-on AI-enabled support into daily work. Just over half (53%) say their company uses the same playbook for every change. Organizations that unlock more value use more modern, hyper-personalized approaches to achieve continuous adaptiveness.
2. Manage change capacity across the enterprise.
   Review planned and ongoing initiatives together, identify overlapping demands, and establish who can adjust the timing, scope or sequence of change. Eighty-four percent of respondents say employees were assigned more work due to a change initiative.
3. Measure the human cost alongside the business case.
   Approximately 1 in 5 organizations do not formally measure the human impact of initiatives or assess workforce readiness before launching them. Leaders can track workload, readiness, fatigue, and other workforce indicators alongside financial and operational measures.
4. Connect adoption measures to business outcomes.
   Thirty-nine percent of respondents primarily measure change through activity or adoption metrics such as training completion, process compliance, or stakeholder engagement. These measures show that people have participated, but don’t establish whether employees have truly adapted to how they work. Change efforts should be connected to the business outcomes the initiative was designed to achieve.
5. Equip leaders to model the behaviors they are asking employees to adopt.
   Organizations where leaders model change are at least twice as likely to report strong positive ROI and employee adoption that exceeded expectations. But leaders might also need support themselves. Thirty-two percent of respondents believe leaders and managers would benefit from additional training, skills, tools, or support to guide employees through change.

Key quote
“Organizations are asking their people to navigate more change, more often, making it increasingly important to build the capacity and support employees need to adapt successfully. Leaders need to understand how change is experienced across the workforce because the strain of poorly managed transformation initiatives could cost an organization top talent who feel overwhelmed and burnt out. Enhanced, personalized approaches to change can turn it into an enduring capability that supports employees.”

— Sue Cantrell, Human Capital Eminence leader, Deloitte

About the survey
The Deloitte + Workplace Intelligence Change Management Study, developed with research firm Workplace Intelligence and fielded by data collection company Walr in June–July 2026. Surveyed 1,000 change management leaders (51% C-suite) across the US, UK, Australia and Canada, all of whom led at least one large-scale initiative (budget of US$1 million + or spanning multiple teams/functions/business units) within the past two years.

Read the report
Read Deloitte’s 2026 ROI of Change Management report, “The Change Paradox: The 4:1 Return Most Organizations Are Leaving on the Table” here: https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/business-strategy-growth/change-management-roi.html 

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About Deloitte

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SOURCE Deloitte