Editor’s note: This article is one of the proposed blog posts I’ve written for Strand+Strategy that was not posted. I’ve since worked on rewriting and improving the content.
From internal to external team changes and incorporation of AI, to evolving work models, organizations continue to navigate through change. Leaders are often considering how to strategically manage change while employees are navigating the exhaustion and adoption of them. When near constant change happens, it gets harder to adapt them.
Based on the Gallagher 2025 Employee Communications Report, change fatigue was ranked among the top five barriers to organizational success for the first time ever.
Here’s how change fatigue actually shows up inside companies and within teams.
Change fatigue in organizations
Change fatigue is the feeling of apathy and manifests in disengagement that an individual goes through when they’re experiencing continuous change that is overwhelming and is done through the lack of preparation and time to adapt to it.
When there are initiatives for change but the people who needs to acclimate to them lack the capacity to properly adapt to them, the overall results and psychy tend to be affected negatively.
Frequent causes of change fatigue
When workplace change begins to feel like overload rather than progress, this is often driven by a combination of the following factors:
Too many quick changes happening
Multiple initiatives done for employees that overlap and compete for attention and support.
No clarity in communicating
No clear goals nor objectives combined with no consistent messaging can be confusing and may lead to anxiety.
Lack of preparation and training
Individuals lack preparation, training, and tools to adapt to changes.
No trust in leadership
Poor direction, communication, and consistency can affect how employees trust their leaders.