Manage Resistance

Some resistance to change is inevitable the degree of resistance increases if we do not prepare to respond to how employees are feeling in the positive way. Although individual employees are often at different points on their emotional journey at different times, you may find there are a few distinct clusters of employees who share the same attitudes.

For example, there are often those employees who

•        Are very reluctant to change and are often caught up in feelings of anxiety or fear longer than their colleagues. These employees will need plenty of coaxing and reassurance but it is important that their concerns are not glossed over

•        Go along with the change but begin to lose sight of the end objectives. These employees may be quickly disillusioned or unhappy and feel they are caught between two stools, having given up the reassurance of the old systems but without having the satisfaction of seeing any results. You will need to motivate and encourage these employees and keep reminding them of your key messages

•        Have begun to accept the need for change and are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  These employees may still express a certain amount of hostility but they may also be impatient to get on and make things work. You will need to continue to win these employees over, making the most of their positive feelings and the way this can influence others

•        Have adapted to change and are already making forward strides working with the new systems or work environment. Although these employees will generally feel happy about the changes they may begin to identify themselves as being different from colleagues who are lagging behind. You may find that they can be used as mentors or provide useful role models for the change process and how it can work best.

Identify the root causes of resistance to change

Managing resistance is ineffective when it simply focuses on the symptoms. The symptoms of resistance are observable and often overt, such as complaining, not attending key meetings, not providing requested information or resources, or simply not adopting a change to process or behaviour. While they are more evident, focusing on these symptoms will not yield results. 

To be effective at managing resistance, we must look deeper into what is ultimately causing the resistance. Effective resistance management requires identification of the root causes of resistance—understanding why someone is resistant, not simply how that resistance is manifesting itself.

Some important themes in the top reasons for resistance identified the following root causes:

• Lack of awareness of why the change was being made
• Impact on current job role
• Organization’s past performance with change
• Lack of visible support and commitment from managers
• Fear of job loss

Other factors to consider

• A tendency to mandate change from the top
• Organization-wide initiatives that lose sight of individual units
• Overwhelming people with too much at once
• Operating from wrong cultural assumptions
• The desire for instant success on the part of the leadership
• Appropriate resources not available
• Change by memo with no discussion, no ownership
• Comfort with the status quo
• Constant reinforcement (celebration) of "how good we are": so why change?
• A reward system that doesn't match reality
• Some people thrive on chaos and don't want issues solved
• Competing cultures: trustees, students, faculty, staff, each thinking they "own" the institution and not agreeing in fundamental areas
• A culture that supports working independently
• A "public" image that does not fit with the reality internal to the institution
• Comfort with going it alone
• An organizational structure that doesn't facilitate cooperation, that encourages competition
• A habit of critique: faculty are more comfortable critiquing than working together
• Lack of knowledge on the part of leaders about team building, conflict resolution, the change process, etc.