Why Organizational Change is Personal. 

A conversation with Nancy Joyce, EVP of Growth at Talking Talent

Organizations tend to plan change through strategy, structure, systems, and timelines. People
experience it through much more personal questions: Where do I fit now? What happens to the work I have built? What will be expected of me? Will I still be able to succeed here?

Those questions can determine whether a change takes hold or stalls. Nancy Joyce joined Talking Talent as EVP of Growth in July 2026. We sat down with her to discuss the human experience of
organizational change, the difference leaders can make, and why personal transition deserves as much attention as the change itself.

When you think about the human side of change, where does your mind go first?

People have different tolerance levels for change, but it’s a transition for everyone. Even if you thrive on  change, it still requires you to change yourself. And when I think about what makes that hard, two things come to mind: fear and identity.

Let’s start with fear. What’s feeding it right now?

There’s so much press about the economy, and about layoffs handled in ways that aren’t very
considerate or humane. The contract between an individual and their organization is very different than it was fifty years ago when job stability was more assured. So everybody is operating with a base level of anxiety, and it affects how they show up at work.

If you’re leading through change, you have to walk a balanced line. That means as much transparency as you can offer, empathy for what your team is experiencing, and real honesty about what the
outcome could be.

What does ‘leading through uncertainty’ look like in practice?

Years ago I was leading a team of about thirty at a tech company, and there was open discussion about whether or not our unit would be sold off. I was straight with them: If another organization buys us, they might keep us, or they might lay some of us off.

But then I explained why it still made sense to keep doing their best. It maximized the chance the buyer would keep them, and even if it didn’t, they’d want to talk proudly about their accomplishments as they looked for the next opportunity. Beyond that, I said, only you can decide what you need to do to take care of yourself and your family.

Both things could be true. I could give them valid reasons to continue being strong performers and
acknowledge they might be looking for another opportunity just in case.

Addressing fear head-on is the only approach, because ignoring it makes it grow. People create their own stories to fill in the blanks. Get as close to the truth as you can reveal, while helping them feel
empowered in how they approach the next time period or iteration of their job.

And how does organizational change affect identity?

We often ask people to act as owners, and that’s a good thing. But when someone takes real ownership, and then you ask them to hand their work to someone else, there’s a loss. Some grief, sometimes resentment, i.e., ‘I built this project, and now I have to give it to you.’

So an important question for leaders to ask in any employee transition is: What about this change affects your identity, as a professional and as a human? What are you losing, and what are you gaining?

Maybe your identity was “owner of this project.” Perhaps now it’s: ‘I have expertise in this problem, and working on one solution has given me ideas about others.’  Now you have created a bigger sphere of influence.

A lot of anxiety right now attaches to AI. Does that change anything?

The CEO of a consulting firm told a story about this. They built a chatbot for their new associates, and only about half used it. In a post-implementation survey, the non-users revealed they were afraid of demonstrating that AI could do their job.

The next year the firm reframed the chatbot’s role ‘This chatbot is your associate. Use it to elevate your game. Spend your time analyzing and being creative instead of doing hours of research.’ Uptake went to 100%.

So much depends on whether an organization positions AI as a tool that raises people’s game or as the thing that will replace them. AI looks backward; it synthesizes historical data. It isn’t creative about the future. That part is our human job and people need to be reassured that they can make  the transition or given the tools to do so.

Are organizations too quick to label people “resistant to change”?

Some managers are. My question is always: Why? What conditions have you created that make this person doubt there’s a place for them when things evolve?

As a leader, it’s your job to understand what’s happening in their head, not just label them. Some
people genuinely resist change. Others are simply misunderstood.

That’s why leadership is hard. You have to understand people to motivate them, and if you don’t, you’ll lose them.

Where does Talking Talent come in?

We’re adept at helping organizations through any kind of transition. Our heritage is in supporting
working parents, but the principles of change are the same. It’s a question of emphasis.

We’re particularly strong at supporting individuals through an important shift, whether that’s from
individual contributor to manager, from managing people to managing managers, or working out what the organization’s AI ambitions mean in your own function.

The coaching first approach – that is asking questions, understanding a situation before trying to solve it,  letting the coachee determine the focus, iterating with a coach or peers who have faced the same thing gets you further than tackling change alone. That means better relationships, faster behavior change, less turnover, more productivity, and better financial results.

Supporting employees through change starts with supporting your leaders, especially your most
frontline leaders, to get better at what it is to be leading other human beings in the workplace. It means giving them the space to consider what the transition means to them personally and also equipping them with the tools to support their teams during change.

We spend so much of our lives at work. It makes sense to make that time as fulfilling, productive and positive as we can. At Talking Talent, that’s exactly what we spend our time doing.