Why do so many change initiatives lose steam? You’ve built a solid strategy. Leadership’s on board. The PowerPoints are polished. But somewhere between launch day and the six-month mark… momentum stalls. Employees nod along, then slip back into old habits. And once again, HR is left with the question: “why isn’t this landing?”
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
Change fatigue, lack of engagement, missed targets – these are common frustrations for HR leaders driving transformation. But often, the problem isn’t your strategy. It’s that change efforts are designed without enough attention to one critical thing: the human factor.
The psychological headwinds working against change
“Resistance” isn’t the only reason why change fails. It’s a complex web of forces that disrupt your change strategy from launch onwards.
Here are just a few of the psychological headwinds at play:
- Status quo bias – people feel safer with what they know.
- Risk aversion – we feel the pain of losses more than the pleasure of gains.
- Reactance – when choices are removed, people push back.
- Cognitive overload – too much information at once creates paralysis, not progress.
- Low self‑efficacy – if people don’t believe they can succeed, they disengage.
- The forgetting curve – without reinforcement, even great training fades fast.
- Social norms – if behaviour change isn’t visible among peers, it doesn’t spread.
Recognising these barriers means we can start designing assets and experiences that meet people where they are to develop new skills, adopt new processes and shift their behaviour.
What works: a behaviour-first approach to change
For HR leaders, success comes from shaping how people experience the change. That means moving beyond comms campaigns and one-off training into something more holistic and human-centred.
A behaviour-led approach to change typically includes three key phases: Inspire, Train, Sustain.
1. Inspire: motivation before mobilisation
Most change efforts jump to training too soon. But before people learn anything new, they need to want to change.
What helps:
- Frame the change in terms of personal relevance and organisational risk.
- Use stories, social proof and compelling data to build confidence.
- Offer choice and autonomy wherever possible – mandates erode motivation.
2. Train: capability and confidence
We all know this, yet they’re still shockingly prevalent: one-off workshops or long decks won’t cut it. Training needs to be active, spaced, and immediately applicable.
What helps:
- Break learning into digestible chunks with clear, real-world scenarios.
- Use tools like role-play, simulation or peer-led sessions to embed knowledge.
- Support managers with guides or facilitation toolkits so they can lead by example.
3. Sustain: reinforcement and support over time
This is where many initiatives stall. But if change isn’t reinforced, it won’t last.
What helps:
- Use spaced learning and nudges over weeks or months, not days.
- Build micro-supports into workflows: checklists, reminders, templates.
- Create visibility around success – whether through peer stories, communities of practice, or leadership reinforcement.
What it looks like in practice: A global brand-building reset
Take, for example, one of the world’s leading drinks companies. Their challenge was ambitious: to embed a unified brand-building approach across global marketing teams – with all the variation in markets, experience levels and ways of working that come with that.
They didn’t just launch a toolkit and hope for the best. Instead, they used a behaviour-first approach, one designed to inspire marketers, train them on the key capabilities required, and sustain real change.
● To inspire, they led with bold, marketing-style sizzle reels. Fast, energetic and emotionally engaging, these videos showcased what “good” looked like. These sparked momentum and showed what was possible with the new approach.
● To train, they built a structured yet flexible learning curriculum. All new marketers completed the programme in live cohorts, building connection and shared context. But each module also worked independently, enabling just-in-time learning for those who needed it later. The formats varied (video case studies, interactive myth-busters, and activity-rich modules) to keep people engaged and coming back.
● To sustain, the programme’s asynchronous elements were made evergreen, built into onboarding for all new starters. On-the-job tools and templates were also updated to reflect the new ways of working – embedding change into day-to-day tasks, not just learning environments.
The outcome? Not just skills and knowledge, but something deeper: a shared language, aligned expectations, and brand-building behaviours that stuck across borders, teams and time zones.
HR’s role: designing for real-world behaviour
Senior HR leaders are uniquely placed to bridge the gap between strategy and day-to-day experience. But doing that means asking different questions:
- Are we addressing people’s beliefs, habits, and context, not just processes?
- Are we giving enough time and space for behaviour to change gradually?
- Are we measuring outcomes beyond attendance and engagement, like actual behaviour change or shifts in team norms?
Change isn’t a straight line. It’s messy, human, and influenced by hundreds of micro‑moments. But with the right behavioural lens, you can lead initiatives that stick – not just start.
About Georgie Cooke
Georgie is a learning and change strategist with 14+ years’ experience helping global brands turn change strategy into action. As Co-founder of Lima Delta, she designs digital tools and learning experiences that make change stick – driven by behavioural science and a deep understanding of how people learn and grow. Warm, clear and practical, Georgie brings fresh insight to the human side of change.
