Changing Employee Behavior: A Comprehensive Approach

Changing Employee Behavior and Breaking Old Habits Is Challenging
Shifting employee behavior — essentially replacing one habit with another — is never easy. Anyone who has attempted to keep a New Year’s resolution past January understands just how steep the climb can be. Even when we recognize that the change — whether eating healthier, maintaining a journal, exercising regularly, or achieving better work/life balance — serves our long-term interests, we often slip back into familiar patterns and less productive routines.

The challenge lies not in understanding what needs to change, but in sustaining the commitment required to make that change stick.

One Explanation
Recent research shows that our brains favor familiar routines — they are hard-wired to conserve energy. When a behavior has worked for us in the past, our brain signals us to repeat it, reinforcing the habit.

Consider, for example, the goal of increasing your exercise routine. Doing so might require waking up earlier or sacrificing time at home for the gym. These adjustments demand more energy than the brain is naturally inclined to spend. As a result, it often feels easier to stick with existing routines rather than push for new ones, even when we know the change would benefit us.

Can Tools Help Change Employee Behavior?
A wide array of products and programs promise to support behavior change — but when it comes to changing employee behavior, post project evaluations find that these tools alone rarely deliver lasting results.

Take the Fitbit, for example. Marketed as a way to exercise more consistently, improve fitness, and promote weight loss, it quickly became a symbol of personal accountability. Yet research indicates that activity trackers provide minimal support and offer little advantage over traditional weight-loss methods. While you might see a temporary increase in steps or activity, the impact on long-term health and weight management is often negligible. Tools can nudge behavior, but they cannot replace the deeper motivation, coaching, and habit-shaping strategies necessary for sustained change.

A Comprehensive Approach Is Essential for Changing Employee Behavior

Our change management simulation data shows that truly shifting employee behavior requires more than simple nudges — it demands a structured, comprehensive approach to habit change. To make meaningful and lasting change, leaders should follow change management best practices:

• Replace old goals with more meaningful, rewarding ones. Change is easier when the new behavior has clear value.

• Apply consistent discipline. Small, steady actions compound over time.

• Maintain focus on the desired outcome. Keeping the end goal in mind helps sustain motivation.

• Clarify the benefits of the change. Employees must understand how the change improves their work or life.

• Provide consistent feedback and support. Guidance and encouragement from peers and leaders reinforce new behaviors.

• Learn from mistakes. Handle slip-ups through structured reflection and project retrospectives.

• Celebrate incremental progress. Recognizing small wins keeps momentum strong and morale high.

Adopting a multi-layered approach ensures behavior change is not just temporary — it becomes embedded in the culture and practice of the organization.

Habits in the Workplace
Change management training feedback makes it clear: altering employee behavior at work is just as challenging as changing personal habits. Employees, their coworkers, and change leaders all need to be convinced that the effort required to adopt new behaviors is worth more than sticking with the status quo. To support meaningful change, it helps to:

• Write down the goal. Putting it in writing reinforces commitment and clarity.

• Outline specific steps. Breaking the goal into actionable steps makes progress achievable.

• Seek support from coworkers. Collaboration and encouragement increase accountability and resilience.

• Give yourself grace for slip-ups. Occasional setbacks are part of the process — learn and move forward.

• Celebrate every small step forward. Recognizing incremental progress builds motivation and change momentum.

By approaching workplace habits intentionally, organizations can transform isolated efforts into lasting behavioral change that benefits both employees and the business.

The Bottom Line
Old habits can be replaced, and new behaviors can take root — but it requires intention and persistence. Clearly define your goal, anticipate the brain’s tendency to revert to familiar routines, and consistently reinforce the value of the new behaviors. With deliberate effort and ongoing support, meaningful change becomes both possible and sustainable.

To learn more about changing employee behaviors, download 5 Science-Backed Lenses of Successful Change Leadership

by Tristam Brown: CEO

Tristam Brown is an executive business consultant and organizational development expert with more than three decades of experience helping organizations accelerate performance, build high-impact teams, and turn strategy into execution. As CEO of LSA Global, he works with leaders to get and stay aligned™ through research-backed strategy, culture, and talent solutions that produce measurable, business-critical results. See full bio.