Next: Core behaviours
Explore the defining behaviours for our profession
Core knowledge
Change
Understanding how to effectively enable change
This area is about taking a structured and planned approach to change in order to ensure that change happens in a considered way.
It's about understanding how people experience change and supporting them through it.
It's also about knowing and using the tools and techniques for effective change – creating business cases, change readiness, methodologies, levers of change – and applying them in a way which ensures that projects are managed effectively, and risks are mitigated.
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Change standards
Each standard progresses through four levels of impact. Which level do you most embody in your day-to-day work?
Fundamental level
At this level you'll understand:
- What a business case is and its purpose
- The importance of planning and managing change
- That people are an important part of any change, and that change can impact people in different ways
- How your organisation assesses people's skills and capability
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- What a good project plan looks like in your organisation, and why project goals, milestones, resources, risks, costs and interdependencies are important
Associate level
At this level you'll understand:
- How to do a SWOT and PESTLE analysis, and use data to create a case for change
- Different change management approaches and their advantages and disadvantages
- How to explain why change is happening, and basic models for how people experience change
- How to conduct skills or capability audits and gap analyses in your area of work
- The different levers you can use to enable change in your current work
- How to plan and deliver a project, including goals, milestones, resources, risks, costs and interdependencies
Chartered Member level
At this level you'll understand:
- How to use a broad range of evidence (eg external insight, benchmarking) to develop a costed business case
- How change management methodologies can impact culture in different ways
- How to apply principles of the psychology of change, and how to maximise the way people are listened to during change
- How to assess current and future organisation capability and readiness for change across a range of stakeholder groups
- How to assess which levers will achieve and sustain change
- How to select the right project methodology and resources, plan and deliver a project, and manage risks
Chartered Fellow level
At this level you'll understand:
- How to evidence the value of change for a range of stakeholder groups
- How change management methodologies and governance can create value for people and drive organisation performance
- How to paint a compelling vision of the future, and use psychology models to recognise the long term impact of change
- Capability issues that exist within your sector, and how to assess current and future organisation capability and readiness for change
- How to assess which levers will achieve and sustain change across an organisation, and create long term value
- How different project methodologies impact organisation culture and performance, and how to resource and manage risks for broad, complex programmes of work
Things to start thinking about
Use these prompts to reflect on your understanding of Change and uncover areas for future professional development.
- What methodologies are in place to support change in your organisation?
- When did you last carry out assessment to understand the people impact of change?
- Which levers are most used in your organisation to deliver change? What others could you use?
Resources to guide your work, career planning and development, available on the CIPD's main site.
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