Introduction
“People resist change” is a widely held view. Employees are people. Therefore employees resist change. But “employees resistance” is often an excuse many managers use when they fail to gain employee co-operation. Alternatively, they don’t want to do the hard work that’s needed for successful change management.
When Employees Resist Change
Employees may resist change when they perceive it is
- Unexpected
- Unfair
- Poorly explained – or not explained at all
- Threatening their security
- Imposed without consultation
- Disruptive and confusing
- Likely to endanger established relationships
- Not beneficial in their terms.
It’s About Perception And …
You see, employees don’t resist change. They resist what they perceive as the consequences of change. Remember, their perceptions are their reality even if they make no sense to you.
It’s About Consequences
Please grasp this reality. People – employees, you, me – react to change by asking “How will this affect me”. If people perceive that the effects will be positive or neutral they’ll react positively. If they perceive that they’ll have a negative or unknown effect, they’re likely to resist.
Understand The Process
In change management, you’re dealing with highly personal, even idiosyncratic responses. They’re generally intangible. They may be couched in apparently tangible terms such as “This will cost me $50 a week”: “It’ll increase the safety risks”: “We won’t be able to maintain our customer service standards”. These statements often conceal deeper and perhaps irrational but real concerns.
Whose Perceptions? Whose Consequences?
Managers are often aware of these perception and consequence issues. They try to anticipate them. This is good. But only if managers understand the exact nature of staff perceptions and consequences. If you inadvertently substitute managerial perceptions and consequences and act to satisfy these, you’ll create more resistance.
What To Do
- Give as much notice as possible to employees about potential change
- Explain both the change, reasons for it, the goals, the benefits and the probable consequences and encourage discussion about it
- Set a deadline for final and full implementation
- Seek extensive consultation with employees
- Acknowledge all employee concerns as genuine
- Obtain employee input about making the change as smooth and problem free as possible
- Ascertain all the consequences including those you hadn’t considered
- Be honest about both the “downside” and “upside” for employees
- If the changes are extensive, prepare an implementation timetable
Change Is Normal And Desirable
As the old saying goes, “The only constant is change”. It is both necessary and desirable as companies develop and grow. Don’t avoid desirable change because it might upset employees. Employees need to understand that too. But it’s the manager’s responsibility to not only effect the change but to do so successfully.
Conclusion
Employees who resist change can make life difficult for managers. If the process is poorly managed, the resistance will last a long time. You might have to terminate staff who persist with resistance. Those sorts of reactions are very costly. It’s better to manage change professionally from the start of the process.
