Group Training Australia

Tool 5: Change Readiness Assessment Tool

5 Change Readiness Assessment Tool

5.1 Purpose
The purpose of the Change Readiness Assessment tool is to support GTOs to gauge the level of
preparedness among staff for the new service and to determine staff perceptions of the organisational
capability required. It provides essential information to help minimize barriers to the implementation
and change process, including poor communication, leadership and operational capability, cultural
issues, change fatigue etc. In addition to change readiness, the assessment tool also covers the areas of
organisational change capability, strategy and mindsets and behaviours.
The results of the change readiness assessment will be used to guide the activities undertaken in the
Change Management phase, as well as to ensure a successful implementation phase.

5.2 How to use this tool

There are numerous methods of assessing an organisation’s change readiness and change capability. The
Change Readiness Assessment tool offers a graduated scale of approaches to change readiness
depending on the size of the organisation and complexity of the proposed service.
This approach, outlined in Table 1 below, acknowledges that in large organisations, an online survey
would be most beneficial in assisting the project team to understand which parts of the organisation
require specific attention to ensure the introduction of the service is a success. For smaller
organisations, or in cases where the new service only affects a small proportion of the staff, a survey
may be of less value. Instead, engagement through staff or divisional meetings and one-on-one
discussions may be more appropriate.

Table 1: Scale of change readiness assessment approach

Size of organisation
Large Medium Small
Complexity of service

Complex  Online survey  Discussion groups during  Discussion groups during

Simple  Online survey, or
 Discussion groups during
whole-of-staff and
divisional meetings
whole-of-staff and whole-of-staff meetings
divisional meetings
 Discussion groups during  One-on-one discussions
whole-of-staff and with key stakeholders
divisional meetings, or
 Focus groups

For the purposes of this toolkit, the Change Readiness Assessment tool is presented in the online survey
format. However the questions detailed in the survey can be used as the basis of the alternative
assessment approaches highlighted in the table above.

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Tool 5: Change Readiness Assessment Tool

5.3 Tool / template

Suggested survey introduction

Over the past few months we have been investigating the possibility of expanding our business offering
to encompass workforce development services to small and medium enterprises. Through this
process we have identified [insert service name] as a potential new service.
To inform and shape this exciting undertaking, you are invited to provide your thoughts and insights on
our current capability and capacity to implement the new service. Your observations will help determine
the actions to focus on going forward and to help minimize barriers to the implementation and change
process associated with the new service.
We anticipate the survey will take approximately 15 minutes and thank you in advance for participating.
Results of the survey will not be connected to individuals’ names and we encourage open and reflective
responses.
The survey will be open until [insert closing date].
If you have any questions about the survey and its purpose, please contact [insert contact person’s name
and details].

Survey questions
The following list provides an outline of the key questions to include in a change readiness survey.

Demographics
1. Which area do you mostly work in?
a. List options [what makes sense in terms of section, team or location]
2. How long have you been at this organisation?
a. 0-2 years
b. 2-5 years
c. 5+ years

Change readiness assessment

The following questions refer to the new workforce development service being considered. For each of
these statements, please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree, where 1 = strongly
disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree, 4 = strongly agree, 5 = don’t know and 6 = not applicable.
3. I am aware of the new workforce development service that this organisation is looking at
introducing.
4. I understand why this organisation is thinking about introducing the new workforce
development service.
5. I believe the introduction of this service is necessary for the future success of this organisation.
6. I believe the introduction of the new service will have a significant impact on me.
7. I believe there is a clear and achievable plan to introduce this new service.

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Tool 5: Change Readiness Assessment Tool

8. I am confident this organisation has the resources required to introduce the new workforce
development service successfully.
9. The introduction of this service poses significant risks to this organisation.
10. My immediate supervisor understands and supports the introduction of the new service.
11. The senior management team is committed to ensuring the introduction of the new service is a
success.
12. All staff will need to support the introduction of the new service for it to be a success.
13. The communication about the new workforce development service has been effective.
14. I have had the opportunity to provide feedback about the introduction of the new service to my
immediate supervisor.
15. The communication about the new service explains how it will ensure a successful future for this
organisation.
16. I feel the communication about the introduction of the new service has been open and honest.

Organisational change capability

The following questions refer to the overall capability of this organisation to manage the change process.
For each of these statements, please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree, where 1 =
strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree, 4 = strongly agree, 5 = don’t know and 6 = not applicable.
17. This organisation has historically managed change well.
18. I feel this organisation usually communicates a clear rationale for change.
19. The decision to undertake significant change is evidence-based and strategic.
20. Our management team monitors the ongoing progress of change initiatives and is unafraid to re-
evaluate earlier decisions to ensure future success of the organisation.
21. Our management team is committed to ensuring the organisation is on board with significant
organisational change and manages the impact on staff appropriately.
22. This organisation is responsive and diligent in its response to new opportunities.
23. This organisation has a clear, compelling vision of where we want to be.
24. The management team respond appropriately to changing external conditions.
25. This organisation remains committed to seeing through change initiatives.
26. I feel motivated to transform my existing practices to ensure the organisation is successful.
27. Those in my team understand the importance of change and are motivated by the prospect of
transforming current practices.

Strengths, areas for improvement and any other comments

28. What are this organisation’s strengths that can be leveraged to ensure a successful introduction
of the new workforce development service? (Set maximum of 500 characters response)
29. What does this organisation need to focus more attention on to ensure a successful introduction of
the new workforce development service? (Set maximum of 500 characters response)
30. Do you have any other comments? (Set maximum of 500 characters response)

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Tool 5: Change Readiness Assessment Tool

Survey administration
Survey administration process
When the survey is delivered to staff, the questions are presented without the category names and in a
random order. Staff are asked to answer each question based on their knowledge and experience. The
first set of questions use a 1-4 scale, from 1 = strongly disagree, to 4 = strongly agree. The remaining
questions are open-text responses. Responses should not be tagged to respondents and all individual
responses should be treated as confidential unless otherwise agreed in advance.
Group Training Organisations will be responsible for initiating the survey immediately following the
Capability Assessment workshop. The survey should be accompanied by an email outlining to staff the
purpose and nature of the survey. It is recommended that the Group Training Organisation issue the
survey for a period of two weeks (i.e. 10 working days). It is also useful to send a short reminder email a
few days before the survey closes to encourage all remaining staff to complete it. Figure 1 outlines the
proposed timeline of the survey.

Figure 1: Survey timeline

Example introductory email

Dear Staff,
Over the past few months [insert organisation name] has been working in partnership with Nous Group and
Group Training Australia (GTA) to investigate the possibility of expanding their business offering to
encompass workforce development services to small and medium enterprises. Through this process,
[insert organisation name] has identified [insert name of new service] as a potential new service.
To inform and shape this assessment process, you are invited to provide your thoughts and insights on [insert
organisation name]’s current capability and capacity to implement the new service. Your observations will help
determine the actions to focus on going forward and to help minimize barriers to the change process. We
anticipate the survey will take 15 minutes and thank you in advance for participating. Results of the
survey will not be connected to individuals’ names and we encourage open and reflective responses.
The survey will be open until [insert closing date].
If you have any questions about the survey and its purpose, please contact [insert contact person’s name
and details].
Thank you for your participation.
Best wishes,
[Insert sender’s name]
---end of message---

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Tool 5: Change Readiness Assessment Tool

Example reminder email

Dear Staff,
Thank you to those who have completed the staff survey on the introduction of [insert service name].
We will close the survey [this Friday] and would like to encourage anyone who is yet to complete it to
take this opportunity to respond. The responses will be of great help to the organisation as we plan for
implementation of the service in the coming months.
Many thanks,
[Insert sender’s name]
---end of message---

Analysing the results

Like any data set, there are many ways to analyse the results of a change readiness survey. Depending
on the tool used to deliver the survey, a certain level of analysis will be automated. At a basic level,
however, simple bar charts for each question, produced through Microsoft Excel, will be enough to
provide a useful insight into the survey’s results. For the open text responses, Group Training
Organisations are encouraged to collate the results into a single table and read through each response in
detail.
Figure 2 outlines an example chart for one of the questions answered using the 1-4 scale.

Figure 2: Example analysis for a scaled survey question

Q1: The information about the

new service has been clearly 10% 15% 45% 30%
communicated to me.

Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree

The survey includes four demographic questions which will provide organisations with the ability to
analyse the responses across particular groups. The demographic questions ask respondents to specify
their section / team, job role, primary location and years of service at the organisation. Analysing results
across these categories will allow organisations to respond to significant variations among sections of
the staff that might present a risk through the implementation phase. This is particularly useful for larger
organisations with distinct staff groups.

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