Overview
While driving transformative change within the organization, it is critical for leaders to manage the inherent tension between transformation and operations. Transformation should not disrupt core business functions but rather be integrated in a way that enhances day-to-day business effectively and efficiently.
This executive brief summarizes the key insights from the council’s discussion on the importance of finding this balance. This includes essential leadership qualities and responsibilities, as well as proven strategies to ensure change initiatives complement existing operations, create value, and drive sustainable growth.
Roundtable Participants
Led by Adolfo Carreno, Citi - Vice President, Transformation Program Management
- Akita Somani, U.S. Bank - Senior Vice President, BNPL/ POS Lending
- Alessandro Prieto, Analog Devices - Senior Director, HR North America Lead
- Andranik Ziyalyan, Sony Pictures Entertainment - Executive Director, Finance Transformation - Organizational Enablement
- Anurag Chaturvedi, Kyndryl - Vice President Operations Strategy & Transformation
- Desiree Duarte, IQVIA - Communications & Change Lead
- Eleazar Orellana, Former Northwestern Mutual - Head of Field Planning, Strategy & Business Operations | Chief of Staff, Engineering
- James Hoch, Teradata - Senior Director of Strategy and Transformation
- Jeffrey Barth, The Rube Goldberg Institute for Innovation & Creativity - Strategic Advisor
- Jodie Bennett, Willis Towers Watson - Chief of Staff to CRO / Ops and Governance Director, Excellence
- Julie Whitten, Upstate Niagara Cooperative - Vice President, Change Management and Communications
- Laurie Ditch, iMerit - Sr. Director, Organizational Strategy and Operations
- Lindsey Drake, Infor - SVP, Corporate Operations
- Paul Heard, Mimecast - Chief Information Officer
- Robert Westwood, Barclays - Head of Technology Strategy and Transformation
- Sundeep Thusoo, Philips - Director, Business Transformation
- Swati Buddhavarapu, Bright Horizons - VP, Talent, Organizational Development and Change Management
- Traci Spero, Haven Tech - Chief Human Resources Officer & Strategic Communications
Transformations vs Operations: How to Achieve the Best of Both Worlds?
View Operations & Transformation as One:
Stop separating transformation from the business. Instead of looking at it as change is competing with business as usual (BAU), start thinking about change and transformation as being business as usual. Set goals and targets to apply to both transformation and operations, including those concerning investment decisions and risk mitigations.
“Sustain and balance both needs by ‘marrying transformation and operations together’. Merge both of their functional KPIs, eliminate redundancies, and establish comparable metrics. This helps streamline the processes, reducing the need for separate discussion and fostering cohesive energy.”
James Hoch - Senior Director of Strategy and Transformation | Teradata
“Obsessing over trying to strike a balance between transformation and operation may create more imbalance and unnecessary rework. Rather than viewing them as separate items, integrate both into one cohesive approach focusing on ‘mission critical’ tasks—overall organizational goals. This way, you avoid overcomplicating the process.”
Alessandro Prieto - Senior Director, HR North America Lead | Analog Services
“Embracing OKRs is a great way to push on continuous transformation (with a lowercase t) instead of making Transformation overwhelming (with a capital T). Instead of viewing it purely as performance metrics, OKRs can work as an aspirational framework that aligns top-level support with day-to-day work, allowing individuals at all levels to contribute and identify opportunities for change.”
Andranik Ziyalyan - Executive Director, Finance Transformation - Organizational Enablement | Sony Pictures Entertainment
“Have experts and key practitioners design the future state of operations in alignment with transformation goals so it’s practical and feasible. As these individuals understand the day-to-day challenges, their approaches will be more grounded in real-world experience.”
Jeffrey Barth - Strategic Advisor | The Rube Goldberg Institute for Innovation & Creativity
Key Focus When Planning Transformation & Operational Strategies:
Involve the Right People
✔ Are the people who are planning the changes also the ones who are living with the changes at the end of the day?
✔ Make change feel more seamless. If you can’t, you need to involve people to make it as simple as possible for them to make sense of it and integrate it into their everyday work.
✔ Get functional leaders to join and be part of the transformation plan.
“To get functional leaders to join and be part of the plan, you might need to figure out who will keep the BAU stuff running until they can return to that. ”
Paul Heard - Chief Information Officer | Mimecast
Risks vs. Priorities
✔ Focus on finding the balance between potential risks and organizational priorities from the merged transformation and operations strategies.
✔ Make careful initial decisions as they largely impact the whole transformation journey.
“We strategically inserted operational leaders into the change process to make key design decisions and ensure smooth execution. Meanwhile, the revenue-generating part of the business was intentionally kept separate from the transition to mitigate risks and avoid any negative impact on business performance.”
Anurag Chaturvedi - Vice President Operations Strategy & Transformation | Kyndryl
Regulations into Operations
✔ It’s harder to secure leadership buy-in within certain sectors with regulatory-based change.
✔ Build regulatory changes with an understanding of operational truths. Identify what regulated societies expect out of corporations and what you are changing towards.
✔ You don’t only have to comply; you can bake opportunities to do better operations-wise as you comply.
“Integrate regulations into existing business operations seamlessly by focusing on the end goal of it – be it on operational resilience, client protection, or organizational security.”
Jodie Bennett - Chief of Staff to CRO/Ops and Governance Director, Excellence
Leadership Role in Transforming Tension to Trust
“The leadership position in change is undeniably challenging. They have to keep things running while delivering transformative change while handling people’s expectations, fear, and resistance to change.”
Adolfo Carreno - Vice President, Transformation Program Management | Citi
Embody Leadership Values
Leaders must embody core human-centric values such as authenticity, empathy, and self-awareness. Gauge how well you know your direct reports and their fears and how you can keep them motivated. By showing genuine concern and understanding, they can connect with their teams and foster an environment where trust can thrive.
“Effective leadership is all about understanding the human side of transformation while aligning with the strategic visions. Be sympathetic, honest, and understanding. It is okay to not always have the right answer and say you will find out within a certain timeframe. ”
Lindsey Drake - SVP, Corporate Operations | Infor
“I often share this quote from Carl Jung with my leaders on major transformations. ‘Know all the theories, master all the techniques, but as you touch a human soul, be just another human soul.’ ”
Alessandro Prieto - Senior Director, HR North America Lead | Analog Services
“A key skill for effective leadership is the ability to adapt one’s style to meet the needs of their team and the situation. Transformational leadership, which encourages innovation and change, can be balanced with transactional leadership, which emphasizes structure and stability. With a leader who rolls up their sleeves and leads by example, people will follow easily and support your initiatives with less resistance.”
Desiree Duarte - Communications & Change Lead | IQVIA
Shape Organizational Culture
Nurture a culture that promotes engagement. Actively involve employees to make them feel part of the change process.
“Determine where your corporate culture is at. If you don’t have a culture where people check in on each other, you need to be aware of that. Identify the naysayers and find out the ways to lead them along and check in on them along the way.”
Laurie Ditch - Sr. Director, Organizational Strategy and Operations | iMerit
Foster Healthy Communications
Clear and consistent communication is crucial for guiding employees through the transformation. Leadership must ensure that messaging is aligned across all levels and consistent throughout the process, helping to manage expectations and reduce uncertainty.
“Change is less about leadership styles and more about leadership alignment. Organizational trust happens when messages are consistent.”
Swati Buddhavarapu - VP, Talent, Organizational Development and Change Management | Bright Horizons
“Different leaders bring different strengths to the table. Some are great at clear communication, while others are good at making people feel heard. Use this to the organization's advantage to transform tension into trust.”
Akita Somani - Senior Vice President, BNPL / POS Lending | U.S. Bank
“Go back to the basics. If you have to let go of people, make sure to gather those left in a town hall or fireside chats to reintegrate them and let them get to know their new leaders. Direct forums like this are important to give them a better understanding of what’s to come and what to expect in the future.”
Traci Spero - Chief Human Resources Office & Strategic Communication | Haven Tech
Be Visible, Lead Advocacy
Leaders must be visible not just in terms of decision-making but as transformation sponsors actively involved in the journey. There should be a consistent ‘face’ that serves as a rallying point from the beginning to the end of the transformation, signifying commitment to the change process.
“While leaders often focus on conceiving and holding people accountable for change, they may neglect their role in resolving underlying tensions that arise during the process. Instead of leaving it to lower levels of the organization to handle these conflicts and putting the pieces on their own, addressing it from the highest possible level will help smoothen the transformation process better.”
Sundeep Thusoo - Director, Business Transformation | Philips
Fill in Resource Gaps
Identify and address resource gaps to ensure the smooth execution of transformation initiatives. By investing the right resources in the right channels, leaders help to empower their teams to succeed further.
“One person can help fulfill what the other lacks. Ensure the right people are in place to help each other while supported by the right tools to drive transformation forward.”
Akita Somani - Senior Vice President, BNPL / POS Lending | U.S. Bank
Delicate Balance for Risk Mitigation: Data-Driven Decisions vs. Human-Centric Leadership
Integration Without Conflict
Both data-driven decisions and human-centric leadership need to be integrated and live intrinsically together. It is important to have data-driven quality as a core leadership principle while leveraging a human-centric approach when getting things done.
“For transformations to be effective, leaders must blend solid data insights with empathy and cultural understanding. Data informs decision-making while a human-centric approach guides how change is implemented and communicated to the stakeholders.”
Alessandro Prieto - Senior Director, HR North America Lead | Analog Services
Data Is Your Compass, Not a Roadmap
Data is the information your company is telling you; it acts as a starting point for decision-making. Connecting data with the day-to-day realities of employees’ roles ensures relevance and drives action.
“Great leaders can interpret the data given to them, making it actionable, and linking it directly to organizational goals and employee engagement. Insights can be derived both internally (people insights) and externally (market, regulatory, or industry data) to help you form the context and story behind those numbers. ”
Laurie Ditch - Sr. Director, Organizational Strategy and Operations | iMerit
“Data and learnings from past transformations taught us the importance of adaptability. It acts as a guiding map for us to avoid repeating any transformation mistakes from the past.”
Desiree Duarte - Communications & Change Lead | IQVIA
Key Approaches in Cultivating Adaptability Within the Workforce Without Sacrificing Performance
Assess
Embrace Organizational Reality: Transformation begins by acknowledging the current state of your organization. Define realistic pathways for change while aligning with the organization’s realities to build effective strategies and address what is truly needed.
Understand Resistance to Change: Resistance can arise at all levels and from both directions. Identify change readiness and engagement levels throughout the process to gauge progress and ensure alignment.
“People have already found their preferred ways of getting work done; how do you make change enjoyable enough that they are willing to forgo that? At some point, like children, you’ve got to eventually get rid of the bottle or the pacifier to get them to finally move on.”
Laurie Ditch - Sr. Director, Organizational Strategy and Operations | iMerit
Plan
Communication Strategy: Plan a strong communication strategy to ensure continuous alignment, promote a two-way feedback loop, and minimize confusion during transformation.
“We established the ‘Kyndryl Way’ campaign to set clear expectations. Updates are then tailored for different key stakeholders to ensure alignment across all levels.”
Anurag Chaturvedi - Vice President Operations Strategy & Transformation | Kyndryl
“Put creativity in communication and fun in engagement. Try to listen differently and show up with fresh perspectives to spark innovation for change.”
Julie Whitten - Vice President, Change Management and Communications | Upstate Niagara Cooperative
Cut Off Toxic Ways: Leave behind outdated or counterproductive practices to foster a growth-oriented corporate culture. It’s okay to lose the people who aren’t willing to change with the business.
“Get rid of the disease and cut your losses. Continuing to nurture toxic individuals or unproductive products drains energy and resources, ultimately hindering overall transformation success.”
Laurie Ditch - Sr. Director, Organizational Strategy and Operations | iMerit
Action
Evolution, Not Revolution: Change is most sustainable when it is incremental and follows a clear growth vision.
“Taking smaller but measured and effective actions created momentum for larger, impactful changes in the long run. It is about gradually shaking up comfort zones so we don’t settle into a status quo that no longer exists. Celebrate small wins and use them as the foundation for more significant change.”
Jodie Bennett - Global Transformation and Operational Excellence Leader | Willis Towers Watson
“Tap into your workforce’s potential and continuous improvement happens. More businesses need to empower their employees. When employees are empowered, they take on OKRs, they are ready to change, and they have great input on strategy. ”
Robert Westwood - Head of Technology Strategy and Transformation | Barclays
Empowerment & Re-Skilling: Empower and inspire the workforce by equipping them with the necessary skills to contribute to change.
“Focus on upskilling and retooling the workforce to align with the modern tech landscape. Emphasize precise performance measurement, strategic partnerships, and automation to enable higher-value work.”
Anurag Chaturvedi - Vice President Operations Strategy & Transformation | Kyndryl
“We developed an upskilling and reskilling program for employees to explore opportunities; from small projects to cross-team roles. This fosters a culture of adaptability and growth.”
Desiree Duarte - Communications & Change Lead | IQVIA
Sustain
Secure Buy-In: Engaging stakeholders early builds trust and commitment from the beginning. Work on receiving continuous support throughout the change process by keeping them informed.
Enforce Accountability: Hold teams accountable to ensure transformation meets the same standards as day-to-day operations.
“It’s difficult when so many people are responsible for doing transformations. Rigor and accountability for transformations should be held to the same standards as mainstream business activities.”
Sundeep Thusoo - Director, Business Transformation | Philips
Conclusion
Organizations need to stop viewing transformations and operations as two separate entities, as both go hand-in-hand in ensuring positive business growth and driving innovation without compromising performance. Sustaining both is essential for long-term organizational success and adaptability. With the right strategies and strong leadership, businesses can navigate the complexities of change while maintaining operational momentum, so both are equipped to thrive in a dynamic business landscape.
Executive Council for Leading Change
The Executive Council for Leading Change (ECLC) is a global organization that brings executives together to redefine organizational change and transformation landscape. The council aims to advance strategic leadership expertise in corporate change by connecting visionary leaders. It’s where leaders responsible for significant change initiatives can collaborate, plan, and create practical solutions for intricate challenges in leading large organizations through major shifts
Interested in joining ECLC? Learn the membership criteria and sign-up below.
