What Role Should Executives Play in Organizational Change?

What does executive sponsorship require in practice?

Executive sponsorship requires visible decisions and follow-through, not just a name on the project charter. Leaders should own the business case, resolve conflicts, and support the people affected. The seven responsibilities below translate those duties into observable actions rather than a ceremonial role.

Prosci’s sponsorship guidance identifies three core duties: remaining active and visible, building support among leaders, and communicating directly with employees. A launch speech covers only a small part of that work.

1. Explain the business need and the limits

Executives should explain the problem the change must solve and what success will look like. Connect the proposed changes to customer needs, operational performance, or business risk. Be equally clear about what the organization is not trying to change.

For example, reducing order errors is a clearer purpose than “becoming digital.” Agree a starting measure and a target with the process owner. If the business case changes, explain why instead of quietly moving the goalposts.

2. Resolve conflicts across the leadership team

Executive sponsorship must bring competing departments behind a shared outcome. When sales, finance, and operations want different things, senior leaders should settle the trade-off and record the decision. A project manager cannot resolve a dispute that requires authority above their role.

Ask each executive what their own team will change. Agreement in a steering meeting means little if departmental targets still reward the old behaviour. Prosci’s coalition guidance stresses aligned expectations and clear roles across business groups.

3. Fund capacity, not only technology

Executives should provide time for practice, manager support, process redesign, and temporary disruption, alongside any technology spending. Executive sponsorship includes deciding which other work stops or slows down. An approved budget is incomplete if essential employees remain committed to incompatible deadlines.

Review the combined workload before approving another initiative. A useful question is: which named people must support both daily operations and this change, and who covers their work while they learn?

4. Demonstrate the behaviour being requested

Leaders should use the new process and accept the same controls they expect others to follow. Executive sponsorship loses credibility when senior managers keep private exceptions. Choose a few visible behaviours that colleagues can observe in normal work, then practise them consistently.

McKinsey’s influence model combines role modelling with understanding, skills, and formal reinforcement. If leaders ask for decisions based on shared data, their own reviews should use that data rather than a separate spreadsheet.

5. Listen and act on uncomfortable feedback

Executive sponsorship should make it possible to raise problems without being dismissed as resistant. Ask employees where the new approach breaks down, distinguish disagreement from a genuine operational risk, and show what changed because of their feedback. Listening needs a response.

Give managers a route to escalate issues, but also hear directly from affected staff. Report back on concerns: resolved, under investigation, or not accepted with a reason. Silence leaves people guessing whether speaking up was worthwhile.

6. Make readiness decisions using evidence

Executives should approve rollout against agreed readiness conditions, not calendar pressure alone. Review testing, employee capability, service continuity, unresolved risks, and recovery arrangements. Executive sponsorship means accepting responsibility for a decision to delay when the evidence does not justify proceeding.

Request an independent challenge where the consequences are serious. Record who approved the decision and which risks remain. “The committee discussed it” is not a clear authorization to expose employees or customers to a known problem.

7. Own the benefits after launch

Executive sponsorship should continue until operational owners can sustain the new approach and demonstrate its results. Review correct use of the process alongside costs, service quality, and the original business outcome. Installation and training completion are milestones, not proof of value.

Keep a benefit owner and a review date for each promised result. If the change frees staff time, explain how that time improves service or reduces spending. Do not count unused capacity as cash savings.

What should executives delegate during change?

Executives should delegate coordination, detailed planning, and specialist delivery while retaining decisions that require their authority. The division depends on organizational size and risk. In a small business, one person may fill several roles, but the responsibilities still need to be explicit.

Effective executive sponsorship removes barriers without requiring every minor decision to travel upwards. Set escalation thresholds for cost, risk, and service disruption so teams know when they can act independently.

What can Canadian leaders learn from Phoenix?

Canada’s Phoenix pay-system experience illustrates why executive accountability needs clear approval and reliable information. Government scale differs from an SME, but the leadership question is relevant: can the person approving a transition see the risks and genuinely challenge the recommendation?

In his Spring 2018 message, page 3, the Auditor General reported no documented launch approval and a lack of independent project oversight. Senior accountability did not disappear because key risk information failed to reach the deputy minister.

Frequently asked questions

Executive sponsorship should match the authority needed to deliver the change, rather than follow job titles automatically. These answers distinguish strategic accountability from specialist support and help leaders judge whether their involvement is solving problems or merely adding another approval layer.

Does the CEO need to sponsor every change?

No. Choose a sponsor with authority over the affected work and the ability to secure resources and resolve conflicts. The CEO should become directly involved when the change requires enterprise-wide trade-offs or decisions beyond another executive’s authority.

Can HR replace executive sponsorship?

HR can guide employee support, training, and aspects of change delivery, but cannot replace business accountability simply by coordinating activities. An HR executive can sponsor a change when their authority and responsibilities match its scope.