When your company rolls out a new technology, refines a process, or stands up a new team, how do you ensure your people successfully adopt the change rather than resist it?

The answer lies in Organizational Change Management (OCM). Often treated as an “afterthought” or relegated solely to marketing or project managers, OCM is, in fact, a critical discipline and framework. It’s the approach that ensures your investment of effort doesn’t fail.

We sat down with OCM expert Tori Copeland, an Engagement Manager at OGx Consulting, who specializes in OCM, to break down what it is, why it’s critical, and the non-negotiable first step for any successful change initiative.

OCM is About the Human Element

Tori emphasizes that OCM is more than just a word; it’s a discipline, a framework, and an approach applied when an organization takes on a change. It really emphasizes and focuses on the human element associated with any change you are implementing.

The ultimate goal of OCM is not just “going live” with a new solution, but how you guide your people along that path so there is minimal disruption and maximum adoption.

As Tori explains, if you make process improvements or roll out new technology, OCM enables you to effectively support your impacted stakeholders along the journey. Tori has worked with many different organizations, including large organizations in the transit and transportation space, as well as state and local agencies implementing complex changes.

The Non-Negotiable First Step: The Case for Change

How do you start? You can’t simply lift and shift a one-size-fits-all framework. According to Tori, the most important component to get started is to clearly understand your purpose and what you’re actually changing.

This is where the Case for Change comes in.

The Case for Change is really the purpose—the “why”—behind the change. It transforms a technical decision (like implementing an AI model) into a clear benefit for the team.

For example: Instead of just saying “We are implementing an AI model,” the Case for Change might be: “By leveraging this AI model, it saves on average 10 hours a week for your team members“.

Once you have this clear vision, you can start effectively communicating about the change to your impacted stakeholder groups.

Beyond the Newsletter: The Role of Leaders and Experts

You may think OCM is just about sending out more emails, but Tori cautions that this only creates noise instead of giving clear signals of progress.

Effective OCM requires a structured strategy, which includes:

Vocal, Bought-in Leadership: The most successful projects have leaders who are very bought into the change and are vocal supporters or advocates for the work. You can leverage leaders to reinforce communications because they are considered trusted advisors within the organization.

Targeted Support: OCM requires identifying your impacted stakeholder groups, assessing their specific needs, and providing the right materials (like training or FAQs) at the right time, without inundating them with information.

Dedicated Expertise: While resources like Marketing can help develop communications and design effective posters, they often lack the experience of leading successful OCM or applying specific methodologies like ADKAR. This is why leveraging an OCM practitioner is so critical.