Effective strategies to decrease resistance to change

1. A resistance to change is a natural process that occurs when employees are asked to make a transition or to accept a workplace change. It is a natural tendency of human beings to resist workplace changes that might bring them out of their comfort zones. Resistance to change can lead to the failure of a change program, which makes it imperative for managers to deal with resistance to change and make change more acceptable. Certain strategies and motivators that can be used by employed to decreases resistance to change and make it more acceptable are discussed below:

First of all, improving communication channels to inform stakeholders about the change program can be a great strategy to decrease resistance to change. When stakeholders are properly informed about the change program, they feel involved and do not feel scared of the unknown (Al-Haddad and Kotnour, 2015). As a result, they offer lesser resistance to change.

Secondly, employee involvement and engagement in the change program, right from the very beginning, can also be helpful in dealing with resistance to change. When the employees are involved in the planning phase of the change program,  they feel valuable and try their best to cope up with the change. Employee engagement also enables the employees to get a deeper insight into the benefits of the desired change, which makes them more open to workplace changes rather than resisting them (Siddiqi, 2015).

Thirdly, implementing a planned approach to change management can help in dealing with resistance to change. Implementing a workplace change is not an easy task and requires a lot of administration. By adopting a planned approach, it can become easier for managers to implement a change without committing mistakes that could lead to resistance to change amongst the employees.

Fourthly, developing project teams and employing change agents can also be helpful in dealing with resistance to change. Change agents can be chosen from managers and leaders of an organisation or a division and must be the people to whom the employees listen and follow. When the employees would hear about the benefits of the change program through their leaders, they will not offer resistance to change and would be convinced to adopt the desired changes (Carnall, 2018).

Fifthly, to motivate the employees to accept a change, the management can establish a reward system, which would be aimed at rewarding those employees who would help in bringing about a change or would have demonstrated the desired change in their behaviour. One of the best rewards for motivating the employees to accept a change is appreciation. A system of reward would not just motivate the employees but will also be helpful in reinforcing the right behaviour amongst them.

Lastly, setting clear expectations and goals for the employees and also offering them job autonomy side by side can be helpful in keeping them motivated. Job autonomy would provide them with a control over their job and they will be able to change it, according to the expectations or goals of the company, on their own.

2. A change agent is a person who helps an organisation in introducing the desired changes in the workplace by focusing on organisational effectiveness, improvement and development. A change agent can be a person from within the organisation or from the outside of the organisation. The following roles can be played by a change agent while an organisation is undergoing a transition:

Role of leaders and change agents in change management effort

Managing a change program is not an easy task and requires a lot of planning. Dealing with the behaviour of stakeholders can sometimes be tedious and requires digging below the surface to understand an organisation’s dynamic. As change agents are closely related to the employees (and other stakeholders), they can investigate the factors that are preventing a change from becoming successful in an organisation (Ferri-Reed, 2014).. The findings of the investigations can then be used to remove the obstacles to a change program and bring success.

As discussed above, change agents are those people who are closely linked to the stakeholders or the ones whom the stakeholders follow. Because of their influence on the stakeholders, they can play the role of a mediator and can advocate on behalf of the company. They can be highly vocal and persistent about the change program and can communicate the benefits of the change program.

Change agents are usually closely related to the employees and are aware about the feelings that they go through when a change is being introduced in their company. During a change program, employees are forced to come out of their comfort zones, which can have an impact on their sense of stability (Fullan, 2012). Change agents can better deal with the feelings and emotions of employees and can use appropriate techniques to encourage them to accept the desired changes.

During a change program, there can be a lot of groups and politics in the workplace. A situation of total unrest is developed, which can lead to conflicts between individuals and groups. In such cases, change agents in an organisation can mediate and help in solving conflicts by reducing friction between individuals and groups.

One of the most important roles that a change agent plays is the role of a manager. Change agents are responsible for managing the entire change program and it becomes their duty to plan goals, targets & due dates and checking whether they are being achieved in the desired time or not (Bordia et al, 2004). They also distribute authority to people and make sure that they are rewarded for the efforts that they put in for the successful implementation of the change program.

Senior level managers of an organisation cannot stay with the stakeholders at all times but during change programs, it is really important for them to be aware of all the things that are going around in the workplace. In such a scenario, change agents play an important role in reporting all information related to employees and stakeholders to the management of the company.

3. As a lot of resources and the overall performance of an organisation is put to stake during a change program, it is important from an organisational point of view that an assessment of the effect of the change program is carried out by the senior level management. Following are the ways that can be used by the senior level management to assess the effectiveness of a change program:

The best and the most commonly used technique for analysing the effectiveness of a change program is to analyse the difference in individual performance levels that have been achieved as a result of the change program. A change program is implemented when an organisation wants to increase its competitiveness through the performance levels of its employees (Mone and London, 2018). A change can be considered to be successful when an actual improvement in the performance levels of the employees is experienced by the senior level management.

Another objective of implementing a change program is to bring about a change in the behaviour of the employees. if the senior level management feels that the employees have been able to demonstrate a change in their behaviour, in comparison to their past behaviour, the change program can be considered to be successful (Frankland et al. 2013).  

Another reason for implementing workplace changes is when organisations feel that their work operations or processes are not competitive enough and can be streamlined for becoming more productive and efficient (Elsmore, 2017). By keeping a check on such operations and processes, senior level management of an organisation can check the effectiveness of a change program. Metrics, such as time taken for a process, wastage of materials, quality of product or services, etc. can provide an idea about the changes that have been achieved in work operations and processes.

One of the best ways to assess the effectiveness of a change program is to take feedback from the employees through properly designed questionnaires. Senior level management can design close-ended questionnaires as well as open-ended questionnaires and can distribute it to the employees to get them filled up anonymously (Wang et al., 2016).. Some example questions are listed below:

• Do you believe that the change program was beneficial for you and for the organisation?
• How has the change program affected your job?
• Have you been able to gain new skills or competencies as a result of the change program?
• Has the change program made your job easier?
• Has the change program affected your job performance?

Assessing the feedback of the employees will enable the senior level management to check the impact that the change program has been able to have on the employees and conclude whether the change program was successful or not.

Reference

Al-Haddad, S. and Kotnour, T., 2015. Integrating the organizational change literature: a model for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(2), pp.234-262.

Bordia, P., Hobman, E., Jones, E., Gallois, C. and Callan, V.J., 2004. Uncertainty during organizational change: Types, consequences, and management strategies. Journal of business and psychology, 18(4), pp.507-532.

Carnall, C., 2018. Managing change. Routledge.

Elsmore, P., 2017. Organisational Culture: Organisational Change?: Organisational Change?. Routledge.

Ferri-Reed, J., 2014. Are millennial employees changing how managers manage?. The Journal for Quality and Participation, 37(2), p.15.

Frankland, R., Mitchell, C.M., Ferguson, J.D., Sziklai, A.T., Verma, A.K., Popowski, J.E. and Sturgeon, D.H., Applications in Internet Time LLC, 2013. Integrated change management unit. U.S. Patent 8,484,111.

Fullan, M., 2012. Change forces: Probing the depths of educational reform. Routledge.

Mone, E.M. and London, M., 2018. Employee engagement through effective performance management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge.

Siddiqi, M.A., 2015. Work engagement and job crafting of service employees influencing customer outcomes. Vikalpa, 40(3), pp.277-292.

Wang, B., Qian, J., Ou, R., Huang, C., Xu, B. and Xia, Y., 2016. Transformational leadership and employees’ feedback seeking: The mediating role of trust in leader. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 44(7), pp.1201-1208.