The Business and Psychological Impact of Change Fatigue

Written by Louise Fogstrup, Naomi Lockwood and Karen Saunders

Louise, Naomi and Karen are Enablers at Enabling Change. With backgrounds in change management, business transformation, learning, organisational development, executive coaching and leadership development, they have worked with executive teams and senior management across different industries and geographies. Learn more about them here.

Change fatigue is a complex issue that causes both business and psychological impacts on an organisation. It manifests not only in decreased performance and engagement but also in emotional strain that affects employees’ mental wellbeing. As organisations face ongoing change, recognising and addressing these symptoms is key for maintaining a productive and committed workforce.

In our collaborative white paper released earlier this year, Overcoming Change Fatigue: Strategies for Recognition, Management, and Long-Term Solutions to Build Change Readiness, we explored the signs of change fatigue and provided practical solutions for addressing it.

In contrast, this article takes a deeper look into the significant impacts of change fatigue on organisations and emphasises why it makes sense to remedy the issue.

What is Change Fatigue?

Change fatigue is the term we use when change gets too much, and it refers to the ability to engage and absorb changes as an employee. It is the emotional and psychological weariness individuals experience when they’re repeatedly exposed to organisational changes, often with little time to adjust.

The Business Impact of Change Fatigue

Change fatigue poses a real risk to organisations and affects all departments within a business.

From reduced productivity to higher turnover rates, the effects can be widespread. In this section, we will explore how change fatigue impacts business operations and why it is key for HR professionals and leaders to be mindful and address it before it becomes a challenge.

Lower Employee performance:

Change fatigue has a negative effect on performance and productivity. In 2022, Capterra(1) reported that 32% of the employees they surveyed experiencing change fatigue, shared that they are less productive. In addition to that, 48% mentioned that they were more tired and stressed at work, conditions that are counterproductive and prevent employees from performing at their best.

Beyond its effects on individuals, we know that change fatigue can be seen in different industries and roles. According to Gartner(2), for example, the levels of change that finance employees are experiencing are unmatched and directly contributing to increased fatigue which disrupts individual performance and threatens overall business stability.

Lower engagement:

Change fatigue negatively impacts employee outcomes. Gartner(3) finds that employees experiencing change fatigue report:

• 42% less intent to stay

• 17% less enterprise contribution(I)

• 30% lower levels of trust

• 22% less discretionary effort

• 27% less sustainable performance

• 27% less responsiveness

(I)  Contribution to work outside one’s own role

Reduced Employee Retention:

Change fatigue plays a central role in employee retention. According to Gartner, employees with high levels of change fatigue are far less likely to stay with their organisations. In its 2023 list of priorities for HR leaders report, it stated that only 43% of these employees intend to remain (a number that has grown to 44% in the 2025 report (4)) compared to 74% of those experiencing low change fatigue.(5)

This issue is compounded by “turnover contagion.” If an organisation’s change process involves layoffs, the risk of losing valuable employees increases. Research from Visier(6) shows that in 2023, after layoffs, remaining employees were 7.7% more likely to leave their jobs because a team member had been let go.

Employee attrition, or the inability to retain talent, can be costly for businesses. According to a 2023 Forbes(7) article, replacing lost employees can take an average of eight to twelve weeks, and this process is often more expensive than many realise. It is estimated that the cost of replacing an employee is three to four times the salary of the role. And on top of that, is the time required to train new staff and the added pressure this places on the remaining team members. These costs are even more burdensome when organisations are in the midst of a change process, with teams that are understaffed and grappling with change fatigue.

Difficulty Hiring New Talent:
In addition to retention challenges, change fatigue also impacts an organisation's ability to attract new talent. Employee experience (EX) is at the heart of this issue. The European and Public and Social innovation review (EPSIR)(8) research article, mentions that Yadav and Vihari (2021)(9) defined employee experience (EX) as the mental perception employees form of the workplace based on their personal interactions. EX influences everything from attracting top talent to keeping employees engaged and performing at their best. It follows, that companies that offer a positive employee experience often have a waiting list of candidates eager to join, while others find it difficult to fill positions.

When it comes to change fatigue, the correlation is clear. Employees that are experiencing Change fatigue often have a negative employee experience. When employees feel overwhelmed by constant change, it leads to disengagement, burnout, and a lack of commitment, all of which erode their experience and morale. In our experience, this results in an environment that is less appealing to potential candidates. Firstly. because the lack of engagement, added pressure and disconnection seeps into the recruitment process, and secondly because it damages the workplace reputation, making it difficult to attract top talent.

A company’s reputation as an employer is critical in a competitive talent market. If change fatigue is not addressed, organisations risk not only losing existing employees but also failing to draw in the right candidates. Preventing change fatigue and ensuring that employees have a positive work experience are crucial for both retention and recruitment success.

Increased resistance to change:
Gartner research also found that employee's willingness to support change dropped to 43% in 2022, compared to 74% in 2016(10). We observe that the more noise and uncertainty there is in the world, like the pandemic, war in Europe or instability on the financial markets, the lower the change readiness. This means that even if your next change process is vital for the health and survival or your organisation, you may receive very strong pushback from your teams, delaying and derailing your plans.

The business impact of change fatigue is far-reaching, affecting employee performance, engagement, retention, and recruitment. If left unaddressed, it not only compromises business stability but also creates long-term challenges in attracting and retaining talent and carrying out future changes successfully.

The Psychological Impact of Change Fatigue

In addition to the impact on business, on an individual level, change fatigue profoundly impacts employees' sense of safety, stability, and trust. At the core of these feelings is psychological safety, a concept defined by Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson (11) as a shared belief within a team that it is safe to take interpersonal risks without fear of negative consequences. Her research shows that psychological safety is the foundation of high-performing, resilient teams.

In environments built on trust and respect, team members feel free to speak up, share ideas, and take risks, all of which are essential for innovation, collaboration, and adaptability, particularly during periods of change. However, employees experiencing change fatigue tend to have a compromised sense of psychological safety. According to Gartner’s 2025(4) report, 66% of change-fatigued employees report lacking psychological safety at work. This lack of safety aggravates the negative impact of change, as employees become more vulnerable to stress and disengagement.

Our experience working in HR, change management, and strategic leadership has shown how this plays out in real-life situations. For employees who have been part of teams with strong psychological safety, a change, such as a new manager or team restructure, can feel like losing an anchor. This forces employees to recalibrate their psychological contract, the unspoken agreement of mutual respect and openness that they rely on to feel secure in their roles. In these times of transition, they may begin to ask, “What does this mean for me?” or “Can I still speak up freely?”

Recalibrating the psychological contract ©Enabling Change

In teams without established psychological safety, the effects of change fatigue are often amplified. Without a baseline level of support, employees are more susceptible to feelings of isolation, anxiety, and exhaustion, especially when faced with constant change. This emotional toll goes beyond surface-level resistance—it leads to deep-rooted stress, uncertainty, and fear, particularly when individuals feel unable to express their concerns.

To further understand the internal impact of this fatigue, we can turn to William Bridges' (12) concept of transitions, which offers valuable insights. Bridges differentiates between change, the external event (e.g., a shift in team structure or a new manager), and transition, the internal process of adjusting to that change. He explains, “Change is an event, but a transition is the process that you go through in response to the change.”

Successful adaptation requires time and psychological space, as fatigue isn’t only driven by external changes but also by the mental effort required to integrate new realities into one’s role and identity. When psychological safety is compromised, or absent entirely, employees face overwhelming stress. This leads to emotional and mental exhaustion as they suppress fears and concerns while struggling to adapt to ever-shifting surroundings.

Key Takeaways

Change fatigue has wide-ranging impacts on both the business and psychological aspects of an organisation.  It can severely affect employee performance, engagement, retention, and recruitment, while also undermining psychological safety, trust, and adaptability. Most importantly, it can derail your change initiatives, both now and in the long term, causing lost productivity, missed business opportunities, and a diminished reputation as a less appealing place to work.

Organisations and their leaders must do better now.

For more details on how leaders can manage, mitigate, and prevent change fatigue for a healthier, happier, and more productive workforce, refer to our white paper, Overcoming Change Fatigue: Strategies for Recognition, Management, and Long-Term Solutions to Build Change Readiness. You can download it here.

References and further reading:

(1) Article: “Change Fatigue is Making Employee Burnout Worse” June 6, 2022 by Brian Westfall
https://www.capterra.com/resources/change-fatigue-in-the-workplace/

(2) Article: “Gartner Says Finance Leaders Should Factor Change Fatigue into Project Planning”, February 27, 2024
https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-02-27-gartner-says-finance-leaders-should-factor-change-fatigue-into-project-planning

(3) Downloadable Report: TOP 5 priorities for HR Leaders 2024
https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/5188863

(4) Downloadable report: “Top 5 HR priorities for HR leaders in 2025”
https://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/trends/top-priorities-for-hr-leaders

(5) Downloadable report: “Top 5 HR priorities for HR leaders in 2023 https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-10-12-gartner-survey-reveals-leader-and-manager-effectiveness-tops-hr-leaders-list-of-priorities-for-2023

(6) Article: “A year of Change Fatigue: New Research Reveals That Employees Are More Anxious and Distrusting After a Turbulent 2023”, 2024
https://www.visier.com/blog/employees-had-change-fatigue-in-2023-new-research/

(7) Five Hidden Costs Of Employee Attrition, March 21, 2023, by Assemble, Brand Contributor
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeseq/2023/03/21/five-hidden-costs-of-employee-attrition/

(8) Research Article: Andrés Reina, M.,Díaz-Muñoz, R., & Rodríguez-Fernández, M.(2024). Employee experience: a comprehensive science mapping analysis [Experiencia de empleado: Un análisis detallado de mapeo científico]. European Public & Social     Innovation Review, 9, 1-25.
https://epsir.net/index.php/epsir/article/view/398/776

(9) Research Article: Employee Experience: Yadav & Vihari, (2021), Construct Clarification, Conceptualisation and Validation of a New Scale https://doi.org/10.1177/23197145211012501

(10) Webinar: How to identify, Fix and prevent Change Fatigue. 2022.
https://webinar.gartner.com/462138/agenda/session/1090629?login=ML

(11) Book: Amy C Edmondson “The fearless organisation: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth”

(11) Book: William Bridges (1979), "Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes”

(12) Book: William & Susan Bridges (2017) Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change

(13) Article: Employees Are Losing Patience with Change initiatives by Cian O Morain & Peter Aykens, May 9, 2023, Harvard Business Review  https://hbr.org/2023/05/employees-are-losing-patience-with-change-initiatives

(14) Article: The Real Costs of Recruitment by Katie Navarra April 11, 2022, for Society for Human Resource Management
https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/talent-acquisition/real-costs-recruitment

(15) Article: July 22, 2024 by Samantha Lubanzu for the HR Director https://www.thehrdirector.com/features/employee-benefits-reward/power-employee-experience-attracting-retaining-talent/