At AHRI’s 2025 National Convention and Exhibition, leading change expert Richard Gerver offered advice for HR leaders to shift their focus from systems and structures to the human dynamics that shape change.

In his keynote address at AHRI’s 2025 National Convention and Exhibition, Richard Gerver, author and leadership advisor, explored how leaders can better manage change and uncertainty by focusing on the human dynamics at play in everyday interactions. 

The questions below were posed by delegates to Richard Gerver during his session, reflecting the concerns of leaders navigating change in their organisations. Here’s what he had to say.

Q: How do you enforce change in an organisation where decision-makers know change is required, but don’t want to change because of what it would mean for them personally?

A: That’s a hugely important question. So much of this comes down to the pressure leaders put themselves under to believe they have to be the solution. 

In traditional organisations, hierarchically, people think they’re paid more because it’s their job to solve the problem. The truth is that it isn’t. Their job is to facilitate people in the organisation who might be able to solve the problem.

Sometimes, what you as HR leaders need to do is help leaders create the context. 

In the podcast I did with AHRI  before this conference, I talked about this a lot. HR leaders need to lead upwards as well as downwards. You need to set the climate to be aware that some senior leaders in your organisation may be facing that kind of stress. 

Sit them down quietly, unpick what it is they’re dealing with – the challenge, the problem they know they’re going to have to face, the change that will need to happen. Help them turn that into a series of questions, which you can then feed out to people within the organisation. 

So it immediately becomes a much more collaborative, proactive response, and those leaders don’t increasingly feel lonely, carrying the burden of sitting on the mountain thinking, “I can’t find a solution.”

Q: Many people resist organisational change because it feels imposed on them. How can leaders make change feel less threatening and more engaging?

A: People aren’t anti-change – they’re anti being changed. If we feel in control of the change, it excites us. Think about choosing a new restaurant or holiday destination – it’s change, but you chose it, so it feels like an adventure.

In organisations, the opposite often happens: new systems, structures or strategies are rolled out top-down, and people feel stripped of control. The key is to involve them early, by asking questions, catalysing curiosity and giving them a proactive role in shaping the change. That’s how you transform change from something exhausting into something energising.

Q: You’ve spoken about the danger of overcomplicating things in times of change. What practical advice would you give leaders who feel pressured to create complex systems or language when managing transformation?

A:I think the smart leaders are the ones stripping things back to their essence. Too often we assume that complexity equals value, but in reality it just overwhelms people. Whether it’s jargon, new processes or grand frameworks, we can end up creating more fear and paralysis. 

The most effective leaders simplify, in my opinion. They anchor their teams in deeply human concepts like clarity, trust and meaning. In uncertain times, simplicity is not a weakness; it’s a source of strength.

Q: What are your thoughts on change fatigue? And what would you recommend in managing a system of change?

A: As I was saying earlier, the problem is the perception of change in so many environments. 

We’ve been living through the perfect storm over the last couple of decades, as global crises continue to play out, as we start to see the chaos post-pandemic, post-financial crisis, and the shifts in global economies. 

People are also experiencing instability in their own domestic lives, alongside the impact social media and technology are having on our personal lives, which means we can’t cope with that change and uncertainty in our professional environment.

It’s about recasting that change in the professional environment. We have to be so aware that although there may be urgency in the change that’s required, in what we need to do, we need to stop making people feel like they just have to keep up. Because for many people right now, it feels like you’re trying to chase down Usain Bolt in a 100-metre race, and no matter how hard you work, he’s getting further and further away.

So we have to be aware of people’s personal circumstances and try to find ways to make big change feel proactive. 

Rather than waiting and coming up with a gleaming plan, presenting it at a conference or a management event, we start by catalysing people’s thinking – asking them the questions, drawing them in, so they feel they have a proactive and active part in that process. 

Then change feels less reactive, it feels less exhausting, and people are going to be far more predisposed to be involved in it, because they see it as a positive evolution, rather than just trying to catch the coattails of an Olympian.

Learn more from Richard Gerver on supporting your teams through change in this episode of AHRI’s Let’s Take This Offline podcast.