Introduction
Context
Welcome to the 2025 report on the State of Change Management in the United Nations (UN) System. This is the second such study conducted by the UN Lab for Organizational Change and Knowledge (UNLOCK), part of the United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC); the first was conducted in 2023.
The context for the 2025 study is one of significant upheaval, both inside and outside the United Nations. The years since the first study have been marked by geopolitical shifts, economic challenges, technological change, and societal transformations. By 2025, organizations including the United Nations will have been experiencing change as a condition that is continuous, dynamic, urgent, and complex.
What is change management?
Change management in the UN context is a strategic, structured, and inclusive process that helps prepare, equip, and support individuals, teams, and organizations to successfully adapt to and sustain reforms or new ways of working. It ensures that technical, cultural, and behavioural shifts are achieved collaboratively and in alignment with the UN mission and values, and the diverse needs of its stakeholders. By focusing on both the human and systemic dimensions of change – including people, structures, processes, and procedures – change management increases the likelihood of successful and lasting transformation.
In fact, research by change management experts Prosci finds that organizations implementing a best-practice approach to change management are seven times more likely to achieve the intended outcomes of change, more than four times more likely to stay on or ahead of schedule, and 1.4 times more likely to stay on or under budget.
Given this, understanding the State of Change Management in the UN – what is working well, and what may need to evolve to increase the chances of successful change in the future – is more important than ever.
Survey findings
In June 2025, 123 people working in the UN system responded to a survey about change management. Over 90 percent of the respondents are change sponsors, change managers, or change practitioners. They are knowledgeable and experienced in their profession: 45 percent have been actively engaged in change management for more than ten years and they have over 1,000 years of change management experience between them. We are grateful to all of those who took the time to contribute.
The survey findings are presented as follows:
Five insight papers presenting the key findings of the survey:
Each insight paper includes a number of considerations for two key stakeholder groups: change sponsors, and change managers and practitioners combined.
These considerations form the basis of two action papers:
Finally, there are two methodology papers which provide a profile of respondents and describe the approach taken to the study:
