MANAGING THE HUMAN SIDE OF CHANGE IN VAS TRANSFORMATION

Transformational change interventions often fail or fall short of thei r intended impact on organizations and systems. One main reason is tha t these interventions frequently do not strategically address the comp lex human dynamics of change. This happens despite awareness of and co mmitment to intervening at this level by top management and change lea ders. The wisdom that ''systems don't change; people change'' is widel y acknowledged but inadequately applied. These are exactly the conditi ons the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) faces in deploying it s new Veterans Integrated Services Networks (VISNs). Applying validate d behavioral science strategies that address the human side of change will help VA implement VISNs effectively. Six strategies derived from many years of study and practice in the public and private sectors are discussed, along with suggestions for VISN managers about how to impl ement them.