Responses to Organizational Change

Responses to Organizational Change

            Common responses to change can be seen as existing along a scale. In responding to change people can take the role of ‘conservers’, ‘pragmatists’, and ‘originators’.

1. Conservers – are people who prefer current circumstance over the unknown. These people are more comfortable with gradual change than with anything radical.

2. Originators – are those who prefer rapid and radical change. Originators are representatives of the reengineering approach to change. The goal of an originator is to challenge existing structure, resulting in fast, fundamentally different, even, systematic changes.

3. Pragmatists – are those who support change when it clearly addresses current challenges. Pragmatists are less committed to the existing structure that to structures that are likely to be successful (Harvard Business School 2005).

            Every person reacts to change differently. The leader of the organization needs to identify the different responses of the employees and be able to deal with their issues and concerns. The most important response that the leader must be prepared for is resistance. There will also be those who will resist change. These people are called resisters. They may perceive change as endangering their livelihoods and their workplace social arrangements, or their status in the organization. Others know that their specialized skills will be rendered less valuable after a major change.

Resisting Change

            One of the biggest obstacles to the success of any planned change is employee resistance. Resistance affects a change program. People generally resist change because of its negative consequences. Some of the perceived negative consequences of change are:

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  Loss of status

  
  


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  Alteration of work

  
  


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  Discomfort

  
  

Symptoms of Resistance

            Employees exhibit behaviors that can be considered as ‘symptoms’ of resistance to change. There are different causes of employee resistance to change. The resistant behaviors that employees exhibit during the change process can be categorized into two – active resistance and passive resistance. Employees who actively resist change exhibit the following behaviors:

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  Finding fault

  
  


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  Ridiculing

  
  


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  Appealing to fear

  
  


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  Manipulating

  
  

            Employees show passive resistance to change through the following behaviors:

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  Agreeing verbally but not following through

  
  


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  Feigning ignorance

  
  


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  Withholding information

  
  

 

Overcoming Resistance

1. Build Trust – if employee trust and have confidence in the leader or the organization, they are much more likely to accept change. Employees will trust a leader they perceive to be fair, honest and forthright. Managers can go a long way toward building trust if they discuss upcoming changes with their employees, and if they actively involve employees in the change process (Sims 2002).

2. Openly Communicate and Discuss Change – communication about impending change is essential if employees are to adjust effectively. The details of the change should be provided, but equally important is the rationale behind it (Sims 2002). 

3. Involve the Employees – employees who are involved in the change process better understand the need for change and therefore are less likely to resist it. Additionally, people who participate in making a decision tend to be more committed to the outcome than those who are not involved. Employee involvement in change can be extremely effective. It is difficult for individuals to resist a change when they participated in the decision and helped implement it. The psychology is simple: no one wants to oppose something that he or she has helped develop. It is useful to solicit employee ideas and input as early as possible in the change process (Sims 2002).

4. Provide Rewards and Incentives – employers can give employees rewards and incentives to help them see that supporting a change is in their best interests. One rather obvious and quite successful mechanism to facilitate change is rewarding people for behaving in the desired fashion (Sims 2002).

5. Make sure that the Changes are Reasonable – the manager should always do whatever is possible to ensure that any proposed changes are reasonable (Sims 2002).

6. Educate the Workforce – sometimes people are reluctant to change because they fear what the future has in store. As part of educating employees about what organizational change means for them, top management must show considerable emotional sensitivity. Doing so makes it possible for people affected by a change to help make it work (Sims 2002).

7. Provide Empathy and Support – another strategy for overcoming resistance is providing empathy and support to employees who have trouble dealing with the change. Active listening is an excellent tool for identifying the reasons behind resistance and for uncovering fears. An expression of concerns about the change can provide important feedback that managers can use to improve the change process. Emotional support and encouragement can help an employee deal with the anxiety that is a natural response to change (Sims 2002).

 

References

Harvard Business School 2005, The Essentials of Managing Change and Transition, Harvard Business School Press.

Sims, R R 2002, Changing the Way We Manage Change, Quorum Books, Westport CT.

 

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