Resistance To change

 

Discussion

 

About twenty per cent of the people are against any change. (Well, Robert F. Kennedy, 1980) in addition to Kennedy’s theory. Regardless of how effective you are as a leader, it is not uncommon to periodically find your well-planned change efforts being challenged or even sabotaged.

 

1-      Loss of Job

 

This is a major reason and the first of the reasons why employees resist change in the workplace. In an organizational setting, any process, technological advancement, systems, or product change will include streamlining, working smarter, cost reduction, efficiency, and faster turnaround times. All these means staff and managers will resist the changes that result in their roles being eliminated or reduced. From their perspective, your change is harmful to their position in the organization! The satisfaction that employees have with their job determines a portion of their reactions during times of change.

Employees who experience a high degree of job satisfaction are better able to weather periods of change.

2-      Bad Communication Strategy

 

This point is equally as important as that of change planning on the list of 12 reasons why employees resist change in the workplace. Why? The communication of change from the onset could make or break change because it falls under the planning phase of change. The way in which any change process is communicated to employees within the organization is a critical factor in determining their reactions. If you can’t communicate what, why, how, when, who and what success will look like or how success is going to be measured, then, expect resistant

3-      Shock and Fear of the Unknown

 

Employees’ responses to organizational change can range from fear and panic to enthusiastic support. During periods of change, some employees may feel the need to cling to the past because it was a more secure, predictable time. If what they did in the past worked well for them, they may resist changing their behavior out of fear that they will not achieve as much in the future. The less the organization knows about the change and its impact on them, the more fearful they become.

4-      Lack of Reward

 

Organizational employees will resist change when they do not see anything in it for them in terms of rewards. Without ‘WIIFM’ or a reward, there is no motivation to support the change over the long run. This often means that organizational reward systems must be altered to support the change that management wants to implement. The reward does not have to always be major or costly.

5-       Former Change Experience

 

 Our attitudes about change are partly determined by the way we have experienced the change in the past. For instance. In personal lives, how employee’s families reacted to change during their early years is going to affect the way they view change. Employees, who live in the same house, shop at the same stores, visit the same social club, and drive the same routes daily throughout their formative years may have more difficulty dealing with change than people who grew up in several different neighborhoods. In the same way, those who become accustomed to associating with people who have the same values and ethics may find it more difficult to appreciate the diversity of today’s workforce.

List of References

 

-          O'TOOLE, J. (1996). Leading change: the argument for values-based leadership. New York, Ballentine Books.

-          Catherine A. (2011) 12 Reasons Why Employees Resist Change in the Workplace. career corner

-          Porter, M. (1979) How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy. Brighton: Harvard Business Review