70% of transformations fail due to the human factor. Discover the HR guide inspired by the RTBF case to successfully drive change and leave no one behind.
I'm going to be honest with you. The word 'transformation' tires me. It's heard everywhere, in every executive committee, on every PowerPoint slide. The problem? It's been emptied of its meaning. It's been reduced to org charts, processes, and tools. We've forgotten that transforming a company is, above all, about supporting human beings who are losing their bearings.
When I spoke with Christine Thiran, HR Director of RTBF, I realized that I was dealing with a leader who had not forgotten. She steered one of the most profound transformations of the Belgian media landscape, not from an ivory tower, but from the trenches, staying close to her teams.
His testimony is a powerful antidote to the dehumanization of change. Forget the consultants and complex diagrams. Here are the human lessons of a radical transformation.
The initial shock: Accepting and naming the grief
Imagine the scene. You gather your top 200 executives. People who have built their careers, their professional identity, within an organization they know inside out. And then, you announce the news to them.
Christine tells it bluntly: "They announced to all these executives that a large part would have to... they were going to have their mandate withdrawn."
The word is out: "withdraw". It's not a "career evolution", it's a loss. A loss of status, of benchmarks, of work relationships built over years. It is precisely at this moment, by denying the emotional impact, that most transformation plans sow the seeds of their own failure.
What Christine and her team were smart to do was to name things. Her words are powerful and still resonate with me: "We have done a lot of support programs, grief management because cutting, breaking up teams like that... there is a mourning. It must be acknowledged, even if my boss was annoyed that I talked about it."
Talking about "grief" in a corporate setting might seem excessive. Yet, that's exactly what the famous Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Change Curve models. Originally applied to the stages of grief, it perfectly describes the emotional stages an employee goes through when faced with a major change: shock, denial, anger, bargaining, sadness, and finally, acceptance. Ignoring these stages ensures that resistance will take root permanently.
The Change Curve: Understanding the emotional phases of a transformation.
The cardinal philosophy: "Leave no one behind"
In the face of this emotional chaos, a single compass guided the actions of RTBF's HR director. A simple sentence, but one that changes everything.
"It was just essential not to leave anyone behind. [...] The worst thing is to leave people out. They won't understand and they will start to have thoughts that are not positive."
This sentence is not just wishful thinking. It's a strategy. It's the belief that the energy spent on supporting each individual is an investment, not a cost. What does that mean in practice? Christine explains having "motivated her teams to go out and reach people", to understand why an executive hadn't applied for a new position, to ensure that everyone had an exit door or a clear transition path.
This approach is the polar opposite of the traditional method that involves announcing the plan and letting people fend for themselves. The result? This figure is not a hunch, but a harsh reality. A seminal study by the Harvard Business Review ("The Hard Side of Change Management") confirms that nearly 70% of transformation initiatives fail.The main reason? Companies focus on the technical aspects (structure, process) and overlook the human element, the "soft side," which is actually the hardest to manage. By not leaving anyone behind, RTBF has not only shown humanity; it has defused the main time bomb of its project.
(Source: "The Hard Side of Change Management", Harold L. Sirkin, Perry Keenan, and Alan Jackson, Harvard Business Review, October 2005. URL: https://hbr.org/2005/10/the-hard-side-of-change-management)
The Mechanics of Success: Combining Purpose and Structure
Having a philosophy is good. Having a method to apply it is better. The famous John Kotter's 8-step change model provides a perfect framework for understanding the success of RTBF. Even if the company didn't consciously tick each box, the spirit of these key steps is evident in its approach.
Here are the 8 steps of Kotter's model:
Create a sense of urgency.
Form a powerful leading coalition.
Develop a vision and a strategy.
Communicate the vision for change.
Empower employees to take action.
Generate short-term wins.
Consolidate achievements and generate even more change.
Anchor new approaches in the corporate culture.
In her testimony, Christine particularly emphasizes the steps 1, 4, and 6. The urgency (the media's survival against new practices), the communication of the vision ("We spent a lot of time explaining the meaning, the why. [...] Having a storytelling that made sense.") and the short-term victories (the promise of internal mobility, initially met with skepticism but proven by the numbers: 146 out of 154 positions filled internally) were the visible pillars of their success.
What I take away, as a leader...
The RTBF adventure is not just a simple reorganization. It's a masterclass on leadership in times of crisis. It reminds us that our role, as HR leaders, is not to draw boxes, but to hold hands. To acknowledge the pain, to provide clear direction, and to never, ever, consider humans as a variable for adjustment.
True transformation is not measured by the beauty of the new organizational chart, but by the resilience and trust of the teams that have gone through it.
And you, in your transformations, how do you ensure that no one is left behind?
Want to go further?
This question leads to another, equally crucial one: once the new structure is in place, how can we ensure that the new roles are clear, motivating, and truly aligned with the vision? Because there is a great risk of falling back into old habits with job descriptions that do not reflect the change.
Changing roles on paper is one thing. Bringing them to life is another. It's a challenge I face every day. That's why we organize sessions d'introduction à Jobloom, short and interactive. The goal? To show you concretely how to rethink your mission descriptions to turn them into real management and motivation tools.
To discover a method and concrete examples, join one of our upcoming sessions. Inspiration is guaranteed.
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