“The [State Retirement System’s] Senior Management team worried about the general morale in the office. Physical and budgetary constraints had forced an early decision not to increase staff for the project. The Executive Director feared he would not be able to keep up with daily operations, and a growing sense of frustration threatened the retention of capable staff members. The two programmers who had created SRS’ legacy system were only able to participate on a part-time basis. The project goal the SRS had worked so hard to achieve seemed at risk. It was clear something had to be done.” -Sagitec Case Study on Change Management in IT Projects

As we look toward the future, there are events and activities driving or amplifying change -- and there are reactions to those amplifiers that take the shape of emerging trends. In the video below, Sagitec's Chief Learning and Communications Officer, Stephanie Schrankler, examines 5 catalysts and 10 trends that are impacting pension educators and communicators.

Like all stakeholders in today’s turbulent pension industry, educators are doing their best to navigate a perfect storm of challenges. With incoming waves of new retirees, sweeping legislative reforms, and large-scale IT replacement projects for a modern pension administration software solution with a web portal looming over pension funds, the need for effective education has never been greater. This is both good and bad news for the educator. On one hand, it means their skills have never been more necessary. On the other, it means the pressure to deliver is on.

When it comes to major IT initiatives like pension system replacement projects, creating a comprehensive change management plan that involves non-IT executives is usually not at the top of the priorities list.  But as a recent tip from Harvard Business Review notes, the cause of failed IT initiatives more often than not exists outside of IT: