Choose a change management consultancy on evidence of real delivery rather than frameworks alone. Look for comparable engagements and their outcomes, recognised practitioner credentials, a clear way of measuring adoption, a focus on building your team's capability rather than your dependence on the firm, and genuine fit with your sector and context.
Most consultancies will show you a tidy methodology. Methodologies are straightforward to copy; delivery is not. The most useful questions cut past the model to whether a firm can actually move your organisation, and the recognised professional bodies point to the same markers of a credible partner.
What to look for
- Evidence of delivery, not just a model. Ask for comparable engagements in your sector and at your scale, and what specifically changed in people's behaviour and adoption, not only that a project closed.
- Recognised credentials. Established standards exist for the profession, including the Association of Change Management Professionals' Standard for Change Management, the Change Management Institute's accreditation, and Prosci and APMG certifications. A credible firm can point to practitioners trained against them.
- A clear measure of adoption. Strong partners measure whether people actually use the change (Prosci frames this as speed of adoption, ultimate utilisation and proficiency), not just whether communications were sent. If the answer to "how do you measure success?" is a communications plan, keep looking.
- Capability, not dependency. The best engagements leave your managers and sponsors more capable than they found them, rather than creating a permanent reliance on the firm.
- Who actually does the work. Meet the practitioners who will be on the ground, not only the partner who pitches.
Fit matters as much as credentials
A firm that has delivered change in your context, meaning your industry, your country and your culture, will read the politics and the pace far faster than a global name applying a generic template. For South African organisations in particular, local delivery experience and an understanding of the local regulatory and labour environment are what make an engagement land.
Next step: weighing up partners? Talk to CCG about comparable engagements and how we would approach yours.