Change, be it minor or significant, resonates throughout organizations. Ineffectively managed change can wreak havoc on business operations, leading to costly setbacks. Successful change management involves a collaborative effort, meticulously preparing and supporting employees, applications, and systems for a smooth transition. 

What are the benefits of change management? 

So, what's in it for organizations that invest in change management? When executed adeptly, it empowers individuals to adapt swiftly to change, propelling the company toward its objectives. This fosters alignment within the organization, addressing and balancing the multifaceted facets of change and its repercussions.

In the long run, it slashes costs by proactively mitigating disruptions, allowing organizations to thrive in the face of change rather than suffer.

Change management firms employ diverse strategies in navigating organizational shifts. Below, we delve into the strategies of the top 5 change management firms in 2023:

1 TanaMSession.com 

(Photo: TMS)

Overview

TanaMSession.com is led by Dr. Tana M. Session, a distinguished consultant, best-selling author, and Executive-level Performance coach. The company is a certified minority-owned, women-owned small business specializing in Human Resources consulting. Their expertise lies in leadership coaching and strategic organizational change management.

Dr. Session boasts over three decades of Human Resources experience. Her experiences include spearheading change initiatives and reshaping entire departments, encompassing talents, systems, and operations. Her portfolio spans domestic and international organizations, from high-tech startups and fast-growth companies to corporate giants like McDonald's, Spotify, and NASA.

As a renowned cultural transformation architect, Dr. Session specializes in facilitated experiences, leadership development, and organizational enhancement. Her accolades include titles such as:

• Forbes Next 1000

• National Diversity Council's Top Diversity & Inclusion Business Leader and DEI Champion

• CORE Magazine/USA Today's CORE 100 Most Influential Blacks Today

• Winner of 2022 Los Angeles Awards (Category: Human Resource Consulting)

TanaMSession.com has earned recognition as one of the Top 5 California Business Consulting Firms and one of the Top 10 California HR Outsourcing Companies by DesignRush, a B2B marketplace platform.

With a profound educational background, eloquence, and a solid reputation, Dr. Session evaluates company cultures across diverse industries, devising transformational workplace strategies to enhance employee engagement and retention. Her firm equips organizations with actionable tools and techniques for efficient change adaptation, enabling leaders and employees to drive business growth.

Grounded in values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, TanaMSession.com ensures the successful implementation of change management, positively impacting employees and leaders. They operate with unwavering integrity, earning clients' trust, and display profound compassion during heart-centered cultural transformations. To date, they have served over 200 clients, conducted 500 training sessions, and cultivated approximately 8,000 allies in the workplace.

Features

Certifications

Dr. Session boasts several credentials, including PHR, GPHR, and SHRM-SCP, underscoring her extensive knowledge of human resources management's technical and operational aspects. These certifications prove her qualifications to formulate effective client change management plans.

Professional Experience 

With a decade of professional experience as a top Human Resources executive within local and international organizations, Dr. Session has significantly enhanced business operations. Her impact spans talents, systems, and infrastructure, where she has taken charge of leading diverse change initiatives and elevating entire departments.

Industry Expertise

Dr. Session has collaborated with hundreds of clients across various industries. Her expertise extends to food and beverages, music and entertainment, retail and consumer goods, and many more. Her clients include for-profit and non-profit organizations and government agencies, making her a seasoned expert in addressing the evolving trends and changes crucial for her clients.

On-Demand Training Programs 

Dr. Session conducts comprehensive on-demand training programs covering many topics, from addressing unconscious bias and recognizing microaggressions to fostering inclusivity and managing a multigenerational workforce. With a unique blend of passion and business consulting expertise, she activates talent and delivers content that catalyzes personal and organizational development. Her consultations span a broad range of areas, including:

• Organizational & Cultural Transformation

• Inclusion & Diversity Strategies

• Capacity Building Support

• Mergers & Acquisitions

• Executive/Leadership Coaching

• Customized Corporate Training

• Facilitated Experiences/Retreats/Workshops

• Cultural/Engagement Assessments

• Strategic Planning

• Individual & Team Personality Assessments

• Human Resources Infrastructure

• Personal Branding

• Executive Presence

• Career & Performance Management

Endorsements 

Built on a foundation of trust and nurtured through compassion, Dr. Session has garnered numerous endorsements from her partnerships. She receives accolades for her impactful training programs, deep understanding of various subjects, and ability to inspire actionable change for the better.

For instance, her sessions on topics like "Stop Playing Small" and "Stop Being The Best Kept Secret (R)" have provided attendees from organizations like BBWR Network with strategies and the confidence to turn their aspirations into reality. Many clients leave her programs impressed and empowered, ready to initiate changes to enhance their lives.

From her rich background in organizational development to her industry-specific expertise, Dr. Session can devise change management and DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) strategies aligned with the goals and priorities of both organizations and Human Resources. Supported by her team at TanaMSession.com, she adeptly implements cultural transformation changes, positioning organizations for success.

2 Blue Beyond

(Photo: Screenshot from Blue Beyond website)

Overview

Founded in 2006, Blue Beyond builds organizations where both its business and people thrive. The change management company believes its work must serve a higher purpose, from its services to the fruits of its labor.

It offers consultation on various topics, from organizational effectiveness, communications, talent, and culture to DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion). Most of its work revolves around global Fortune 500 companies, but its partnerships span non-profit organizations, universities, and small and mid-sized firms. 

Features

Blue Beyond believes change comes from the people, not from the organization. It centers its change management plan on individuals and makes them effective change agents. The company's consultants take their time to understand the organization's current state and then identify potential barriers to change. 

The change management company utilizes a multi-stakeholder strategy where its consultants work with the stakeholders to align people on future changes and the reason behind them while communicating the adjustments along the way. It places the employee experience at the center to inspire, activate, and empower everyone to drive engagement and effect organizational change.

Blue Beyond also utilizes creative visual mediums such as journey maps or graphic recordings so stakeholders can envision the effect of the organizational change from the collective effort by the leaders and employees of the company. The consultants also keep track of the progress made, ensuring the initiatives are working and supporting the vision.  

3 Boston Consulting Group

(Photo: Screenshot from BCG website)

Overview

Founded in 1963, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) works closely with its clients to tackle the most critical challenges and capture great opportunities to benefit all stakeholders. The global consulting firm has over a hundred offices in 50 countries. With more than 30,000 workers, it strives to deliver integrated solutions through management consulting, technology and design, and corporate and digital ventures. 

Features

The change management consultants of BCG utilizes approaches and tool that incorporate AI, behavioral science, deep learning, and data analytics to unlock the transformation of organizations. Understanding people's behavior allows them to reduce the complexities clients face and improve the performance of their employees. 

BCG approaches change management in three ways: the leader journey, the people journey, and the program journey. The consultants offer a range of activities and tools, such as workshops or forums, so leaders can hardwire change and inspire the workforce. They also help employees prepare in real time through transparent, multi-way engagement and communication tools and tactics so they can make a difference when implementation occurs. 

To measure the impact of the change management program, the consultants of BCG use state-of-the-art tools to track activity, monitor progress, and ensure that proper structure and governance are in place to drive expected value. Over three thousand companies have benefited from its proven three-journey approach. BCG equips them with the adaptability to remain competitive in a dynamic business landscape. 

4 Emerson Human Capital

(Photo: Screenshot from Emerson website)

Overview

Emerson Human Capital specializes exclusively in making changes. It has worked with Fortune 500 companies in different industries like Nike, Yahoo, Bloomberg, and the Academy. Striving for greatness, it aims to create changes that have over a million-dollar impact and challenges itself to accomplish the task within 180 days. Besides change management, Emerson also offers transformation, technology change, learning & development services.

Features

Emerson works closely with its clients to build processes, teams, and roles that enable change. The firm has experts in changing human behavior, coming from political science, marketing, economics, communications, and group theory to implement a change strategy that's practical and easy to implement. 

When the initial plans are set, Emerson gets everyone aligned on the client's vision, values, tactics, and goals so no resources are wasted in making unnecessary changes. With experts in communications, it knows how to capture the public's attention to deliver the appropriate message the client wants to convey. 

Emerson also implements organization design where experts develop models supporting core competencies and document work processes to help the clients scale. The firm helps them acquire the best talent to build a competent, reliable, and trustworthy organizational structure. Clients can leverage the firm's targeted, innovative, and sustainable solutions to make impactful changes and establish their name as an organization.

5 Prosci

(Photo: Screenshot from Prosci website)

Overview

Founded in 1994, Prosci helps organizations build effective change capabilities. The company focuses on the people side of change, combining specific principles to deliver training programs, maintain its wealth of change management knowledge, and provide high-quality customer experiences.

It has trained over a hundred thousand people worldwide. Equipped with field-test best practices and easy-to-use models and tools, Prosci is one of the best change management companies that know how to effect successful organizational changes.

Features

Prosci utilizes its self-made methodology to facilitate individual change. The company has made an ADKAR (awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement) Model, which guides individuals through a particular change to embrace the difference after the change management process. 

By adopting the said model, individuals are first made aware of the need for change to plant the desire to participate in and support the change. With the knowledge of how to change, Prosci allows them to implement the desired skills and behavior for reinforcement to sustain the difference in the long run. 

Prosci also has another methodology called the Prosci 3-Phase Process to effect organizational change. Initially, it develops a customized and scaled change management strategy to set the organization up for success. Afterward, it implements the AKDAR model so individuals can achieve adoption and usage of the change. 

All practitioners, change sponsors, and other entities are involved in the change management process of Prosci. By accumulating the efforts of each individual, the company has created an effective model to make organizational change that's practical and sustainable.

Conclusion

Organizations that manage change well are better able to move without affecting daily operations because they are better prepared, equipped, and supported. Make your choice from among the top 5 change management firms to get tested strategies for putting changes into practice and adapting to them.