3 Tips to Successfully Engage Reluctant Sponsors of Change

Organisational transformations can be extremely challenging processes. The right level of sponsorship is so important. Throughout Prosci's research, sponsor effectiveness has consistently been the number one contributor to successful change, as active and visible promotion of a change accelerates adoption rates and positively influences employee attitudes towards change. 

We often discuss how to develop change sponsorship but have yet to touch on how to engage reluctant sponsors of change. Their involvement is key to long-lasting change adoption. There are often severe consequences to having weak change sponsorship, with the worst-case scenario being that the change will fail altogether. This is why it is necessary to develop an action plan, what Prosci calls a Sponsor Roadmap, to help you engage a reluctant sponsor.

Here are three tips to help you on your sponsorship journey:

Tip #1: Help sponsors understand what their role entails 

How well understood is the role of effective sponsorship in your organisation compared to sponsoring a project? Do sponsors understand the additional responsibilities they have when sponsoring a change? Prosci Best Practices research into change sponsorship has identified that 58% of sponsors do not have a strong understanding of their role in effectively leading change. Sponsors often don't know what great sponsorship is.

Common mistakes made by sponsors include being visible at the beginning of the change but then misunderstanding that they can disengage earlier than they need to. To mitigate this, change management practitioners must spend time with sponsors to support them continuously throughout their role, keep them on the right track, schedule and prepare them for a program of face-to-face interactions with impacted employees, and emphasise how important their sponsorship role is. 

We find the Prosci Sponsor Start Up Checklist an extremely useful tool as it clearly identifies key activities and responsibilities for the sponsor role.

Tip #2: Give sponsors the support they need 

We often forget that sponsors may be stressed and have added responsibilities in other areas of their work, which may negatively impact their ability to become effective sponsors. This is why coaching is imperative. Sponsors need time, support and encouragement to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to lead change effectively.

Scheduling coaching sessions and one-to-one meetings for sponsors gives them the opportunity to express the areas in which they are struggling and to improve their experiences of being a sponsor of change. 

Taking the time to build strong relationships with the sponsor will improve their competency help them effectively support employees during times of change by mitigating resistance. If the sponsors feel like they are being listened to and feel more prepared to perform their role, they will be more likely to become an engaged sponsor. This will also encourage sponsors to fully immerse themselves in their role and not delegate their responsibilities to lower-level management, diluting the effectiveness of sponsorship.

Tip #3: Recognise and reward

Recognition can help to breed success; it's as simple as that. If your change sponsors feel like their hard work is not recognised, they may become reluctant to engage with the change and may start to take a step back.

Treating change like a project introduces milestones and measures that need to be achieved for successful adoption and usage of the new change capability. If these milestones are achieved, the change sponsor should be recognised for their efforts and celebrated for this success. This will motivate them to continue actively promoting the change and make them more concerned about the overall success of the change. 

Learn to Lead Change Effectively

Effective executive sponsorship is the greatest contributor to successful change, according to all of Prosci’s benchmarking studies. Yet 50% of executives don’t understand their sponsorship roles and how to lead effective change. Wherever you are on your change journey, developing the knowledge and skills to support and guide your sponsors will take today's changes to the next level while building capabilities for the future.