Marketing restructures largely unsuccessful, study finds

Fewer than a quarter of transformation projects with sales and marketing teams are successfully completed, a new study has found.

The poll, conducted by business consulting group Emergn, examined the potential detrimental effects of failed transformations.

It comes after 18 months of restructures across marketing teams in asset management and banking amid ongoing pressure on margins.

Alex Adamopoulos, chief executive officer at Emergn, said that although it is widely appreciated that change programmes are essential to ensure businesses remain competitive, the way in which transformation occurs is now outdated.

“The current state where transformations are frequent, cost millions of pounds and are poorly implemented is clearly unsustainable – but this is not how it needs to be,” he said.

“Change initiatives need momentum, clarity of message, and learning initiatives that keep colleagues focused on value and outcomes. It’s about proving why you should do the next thing.”

Although employees recognise the need for change, 60% of the workforce report feeling burnout from too many transformations.

Insufficient learning resources, poor leadership, and disconnected communication are the three pillars building transformation fatigue.

50% of employees confirmed that the failure of clear leadership, particularly bosses who are out of touch with the concerns of the workforce, heavily contribute to transformation failure.

The lack of direct communication from higher-ups to employees has resulted in a lack of aligned business objectives. Unhappy employees are struggling to see the reasoning behind change.

Emergn’s survey shows that the core issue of transformations is the execution, not support of the concept.

The survey was conducted with 702 participants in the UK and US who are CEOs, CTOs, COOs, project manager/lead/coordinators, change coordinators, transformation consultants, or departmental managers.