05. Resistance to change and best practices

Resistance to change is when employees are unsettled and unwilling to accept new means of change. People are afraid of the unknown, and they do not want to disturb the status quo. Hence, employees would resist change. This is a key force that makes the implementation of change difficult. 

Some of the key factors for resistance to change include: 

Lack of confidence and mistrust 

Employees place a lot of their faith in the higher management and if the authority in charge is not trustworthy, employees could rebel against change. If the employees do not have confidence in the process or the outcome they would feel that ultimately the result could be unhealthy. These issues arise due to miscommunication and poor leadership (Gray, 2002).

To overcome this, the management should communicate clearly, the plan and the results. Poor communication causes a lack of information and leaves the employees clueless (Simoes and Esposito, 2014). A proper pathway would show the potential success and the benefits. Further, leadership can guide the employees and build confidence. 

Fear of uncertainty and failure 

Change involves a great deal of evolving from the employee and the company side. Any change that is brought about has a certain factor of uncertainty. Along with this uncertainty; there is a risk of failure. It is this failure that employees fear. 

Having a clear roadmap or a plan would reassure the destination. Clear guidance and leadership would help lead the organization toward successful change. Offering sufficient training and motivation to the employees would sprout better chances of success and less resistance (Yılmaz and Kılıçoğlu, 2013). 

 

Emotional response 

Common emotional responses to change are fear, anger, uncertainty and such. These emotions could drive doubt within employees' minds and this could waiver their faith. Thus, they end up resisting change (Leahy, 2007). 

Once again, this could be solved with good leadership. If the employees have confidence in the leader, they would follow. These emotions within employees are common and these should be acknowledged and dealt with promptly.

Conclusion

The default response to change is resistance as people would like to continue to enjoy the current circumstances rather than having to overtake a risk. The change could take a turn for the better or for the worse. It is this uncertainty that causes resistance. The fear of failure is a major reason to avoid change. The leadership not being trustworthy is another reason for employees to resist change. Most people are driven by emotions and these emotions could be a barrier for employees to open up toward new opportunities and change. 

 

References:

• Gray, C., 2002. Entrepreneurship, resistance to change and growth in small firms. Journal of small business and enterprise development.
• Leahy, R.L., 2007. Emotional schemas and resistance to change in anxiety disorders. Cognitive and behavioral Practice, 14(1), pp.36-45.
• Simoes, P.M.M. and Esposito, M., 2014. Improving change management: How communication nature influences resistance to change. Journal of Management Development.
• Yılmaz, D. and Kılıçoğlu, G., 2013. Resistance to change and ways of reducing resistance in educational organizations. European journal of research on education, 1(1), pp.14-21.