Human-centred change fitness: a blueprint for future-fit CMOs

Most organisations don’t fail at change because of a lack of method. They fail because of how they treat people while the change is happening.

When I talk about human-centred change, I’m not talking about being “nice” on the side of a hard-edged programme. I mean putting people at the core of transformation – treating employees as fully functional human beings with hearts and heads, who are not just part of the organisation; they are the organisation.

If change is constant, then change fitness has to be intentional. It’s the collective capacity of your organisation to absorb, adapt and learn from ongoing change without burning people out. A future-fit Change Management Office (CMO) isn’t just a factory for plans and artefacts – it’s a steward of that change fitness.

Below I’ve ranked 12 human-centred elements by how much they contribute to change fitness in real organisations. They’re sector-agnostic – I see these patterns in public sector, higher education, corporate and non-profit environments. Together, they form a blueprint for a future-fit CMO.

1. Compassion & Empathy

Definition: Actively understanding and caring about how people feel and what they need during change.

We underestimate just how much trust and credibility is built when leaders genuinely listen and respond to concerns. Compassion humanises change: it turns “implementation” into a relationship, not a transaction.

It also shifts the focus from pure compliance (“did they do the thing?”) to resilience (“how do we help them cope and grow through this?”).

What this does for change fitness:

• People stay engaged and cooperative because they feel seen and supported through uncertainty.

• Empathy slows the slide into burnout; it creates psychological “recovery space” so people can sustain their energy.

• Over time, staff build real resilience, which becomes a capability the organisation can draw on in every future change.

2. Trust & Psychological Safety

Definition: An environment where people feel safe to speak up, ask questions and take risks without fear of embarrassment or punishment.

Without trust, you don’t get the truth – you get performance. Psychological safety is what allows people to tell you where the change is breaking, what’s confusing, and what they’re actually doing in the real world (not just on the RAG report).

What this does for change fitness:

• Candid feedback loops emerge, so issues and innovations surface early instead of being buried.

• Teams learn from failure rather than hiding it, which compounds into continuous improvement.

• Knowing support is available cushions stress and makes people more willing to lean into the next wave of change.

3. Collaboration & Community

Definition: Building supportive networks and teamwork across the organisation so people work together on change.

Change is a team sport. When collaboration is strong, you tap into diverse perspectives and practical wisdom that no central team can manufacture. Community creates belonging – people feel they’re going through this with others, not to others.

What this does for change fitness:

• Cohesive teams can handle significantly more change than fragmented ones.

• Peer support and informal networks spread good practice and soften the landing for new ways of working.

• Collective ownership increases adaptability: people are more willing to adjust and help each other succeed.

4. Empowerment & Ownership

Definition: Giving people control and responsibility for designing and implementing changes that affect them.

We know this intuitively: people own what they create. When we treat employees as co-designers rather than “targets” of change, we unlock expertise that often sits closest to the work and the customer.

What this does for change fitness:

• Solutions fit the reality of work, so adoption is faster and stickier.

• Empowered teams maintain momentum themselves, rather than needing constant pushing from the centre.

• An ownership mindset spreads; employees start to see themselves as proactive change agents, not passive recipients.

5. Transparent Communication

Definition: Regular, clear and honest sharing of information about what is changing, why and how it will happen.

People can cope with bad news; they struggle with uncertainty. Transparent communication reduces the gap that rumours and anxiety love to fill. It’s not about flooding people with noise – it’s about timely, relevant clarity.

What this does for change fitness:

• Teams align faster when they can see the “why, what, when and how” in plain language.

• Open channels prevent expensive miscommunication; most employees don’t complain about too much useful information.

• Transparency is itself an act of respect and compassion, reinforcing trust in the system.

6. Agility & Adaptability

Definition: A mindset and capability to respond quickly and flexibly to new information or obstacles during change.

Plans are guesses until they collide with reality. Agile, adaptive organisations treat change work as learning work. They experiment, pivot and respond rather than clinging to the original slide deck.

What this does for change fitness:

• The organisation builds genuine “change muscle” and can pivot quickly when conditions shift.

• Teams adjust course mid-stream (through pilots, experiments, retros) so initiatives don’t stall at the first obstacle.

• A flexible culture means each subsequent change is less shocking – people expect and welcome iteration.

7. Continuous Learning

Definition: A culture of ongoing experimentation, feedback and improvement around every change initiative.

Too often, lessons learned are a perfunctory workshop at the end of the project. A learning culture treats every change as a live lab. What did we try? What did we see? What will we do differently next time?

What this does for change fitness:

• Change efforts become progressively more effective because experience is systematically converted into skill.

• Learning creates positive energy – small wins and iterative improvements generate “change energy” rather than fatigue.

• Institutional knowledge builds up so the organisation can adapt faster to whatever comes next.

8. Purpose & Meaning

Definition: Connecting change initiatives to the organisation’s vision, mission or values so people see why it matters.

When people can’t see the point, change becomes just another demand. Purpose gives context. It helps individuals make sense of short-term pain in the light of longer-term value.

What this does for change fitness:

• Employees interpret change as part of a meaningful mission, which sustains effort in tough phases.

• The “why” increases pride and persistence – setbacks become part of learning towards something that matters.

• Purpose acts as an emotional anchor; it helps people re-centre and re-engage when stress peaks.

9. Wellbeing & Resilience

Definition: Attention to people’s mental and physical health and to building their capacity to cope with stress.

You can’t build change fitness on empty tanks. Wellbeing is not a fluffy add-on – it’s an operational necessity if you want people to sustain performance through continuous change.

What this does for change fitness:

• Healthy employees have more stamina, creativity and bandwidth for ongoing change.

• Higher resilience directly boosts people’s ability to cope with ambiguity and challenge.

• Investing in wellbeing helps organisations avoid the classic pattern of a big push followed by burnout and attrition.

10. Leadership Support

Definition: Active sponsorship and role-modelling of change-friendly mindsets and behaviours by senior and middle leaders.

Leaders are the message. You can’t outsource the human side of change to a project team while leaders carry on as usual. The way leaders show up – in conversations, decisions and trade-offs – tells people whether this change is real and whether it’s safe to engage.

What this does for change fitness:

• When leadership is aligned and visible, teams take their cues and experiment more confidently.

• Trust in direction increases; people are more willing to follow through when leaders walk the talk.

• Consistent sponsorship signals that change is not a one-off event but an ongoing way of operating.

11. Change Prioritisation

Definition: Strategically managing the number, scope and timing of changes to match organisational capacity.

Even the healthiest system breaks under overload. Change prioritisation is about being honest about capacity and making deliberate choices, rather than letting every initiative fight for the same attention.

What this does for change fitness:

• Fatigue drops when people can see that volume and pace are being actively managed.

• Resources are focused where they matter most, improving success rates and benefit realisation.

• A steady, manageable cadence of change keeps the organisation moving without tipping into collapse.

12. Accountability & Follow-Through

Definition: Consistently delivering on commitments and demonstrating integrity in all change actions.

Nothing erodes change fitness faster than big promises followed by silence. Every time an initiative is announced and then quietly abandoned, trust drains out of the system.

What this does for change fitness:

• Credibility grows when people see that commitments are honoured – they’re more willing to invest effort next time.

• Alignment improves because teams know plans are real, not just talk.

• Over time, a track record of follow-through makes the organisation more confident in its own ability to tackle the next wave of change.

A 12–24 month roadmap for a future-fit CMO

If you’re leading or building a CMO, you don’t have to do everything at once. But you do need a deliberate path. Here’s a simple roadmap I use as a starting point:

1. Set the tone with leadership Work first on compassion, communication and trust at the top. Align leaders on what “human-centred change” actually looks like in behaviour and decision-making, and connect it to a clear change vision and purpose.

2. Build dialogue and connection Create space for real conversations: listening sessions, town halls, peer-learning forums. Use cross-functional projects and communities of practice to strengthen the sense of community and shared endeavour.

3. Empower people closest to the work Involve employees in co-designing early changes through pilots and experiments. Give teams genuine autonomy to shape how change lands in their context, not just to “implement” centrally designed solutions.

4. Pilot and iterate, visibly Treat initiatives as learning engines. Build in feedback loops (retros, after-action reviews) so every change feeds insight into the next. Celebrate quick wins and honest learning to entrench a learning culture.

5. Manage workload and pacing Use a change review forum to prioritise and sequence initiatives to avoid overload. Communicate the change calendar clearly, adjust as you learn, and be explicit about what will not be done.

6. Support wellbeing as a design requirement Bake resilience into your change designs: realistic timelines, proper support, recovery periods and recognition of effort. Make it legitimate for teams to raise capacity concerns.

7. Embed and scale Finally, hard-wire these elements into how you run change: leadership expectations, governance criteria, capability frameworks, performance conversations, and your CMO’s own operating model. Measure both outcomes and lived experience, and keep adjusting.

Final thought

A future-fit CMO isn’t just about better templates, tools or dashboards. It’s about how you treat humans while you’re changing the system.

These 12 elements are not “soft” add-ons. They are the hard edge of sustainable performance when your organisation lives in constant change.

If you’re reading this in a CMO, Transformation Office or senior change role, my invitation is simple: Pick one or two of these elements that feel under-developed in your context – and start there.

Sources and further reading

I drew on a mix of research and practitioner insights, including:

• Impact International – human-centred change and ownership

• Mannaz – leadership, change and organisational resilience

• Apogy – resilience, empathy, collaboration and change readiness

• Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) – psychological safety, learning culture and resilience

• IMD – communication, wellbeing, saturation and sustainable performance

• Prosci – agility, adaptability and “building change muscle” across organisations