Change is an inevitable part of any organisation and it is sometimes well embraced or rejected. How a manager or leader deals with it is of vital importance to the future of a department or organisation. Organisational change should go hand in hand with the organisational culture and development. Change cannot be implemented without regard to the already set organisational culture (Mullins 2010). Corporate and organisational culture is a very important consideration to make when implementing change in any organisation and more so in multinational companies (Hurn 2012).
Change is many times met with resistance and this has many times been seen to be of paramount importance as it more often than not determines the success of failure of an organisational change effort (Waddell and Sohal 1998). For successful change to be implemented, it is paramount that senior executives of an organisation have managers that are well versed with project management as well as stakeholder engagement in order to facilitate an almost seamless if not seamless transition to change (Edmonds 2011). When implementing change in an organisation, managers can very well influence the way in which the employees react to the proposed changes and the way in which these new changes are being implemented. If the changes are implemented in a forceful and aggressive manner or without prior notice or discussions with the employees, there is bound to be resistance that could turn out catastrophic for the organisation. Smet, Lavoie and Hioe discuss that effective managers and leaders therefore have to possess soft skills that will help them in the communication and dissemination of the desired change to the employees in a way that will be not only accepted but understood as well (2012).
A good and effective way of introducing change is through the use of the Kurt Lewin model of planned change which includes freezing which is where the proposed change is introduced to the employees. What follows is change which is executing the proposed change and finally refreezing which ensures that the new changes become permanent and part and parcel of the organisation (Lewin 1951). The figure below illustrates this.
Lewin’s Three-Stage Process of Change
Managers are key players when it comes to avoiding and overcoming resistance to change in any organisation. How the act and or react will have either a positive or negative impact on the situation at hand. For managers and leaders to be able to avoid and or overcome change resistance, they need to have effective communication skills, change management experience, a support system from other top level managers and staff and the resources to carry out the change (Edmonds 2011). Smet, Lavoie and Hioe also explain that it is important when dealing with or preparing for resistance for mangers to involve the people the change is going to affect not only intellectually but emotionally as well so as to enable them understand why the proposed change is necessary and how it will yield positive results (2012).
It is also very important that managers and leaders systematically plan and set out short landmarks that will symbolise the changes that have been successfully achieved (Golden-Biddle and Germann 2006). As this is done, the mangers should also be able to recognise the achievements of various employees who have successfully managed to implement and adapt the stipulated changes. Managers should also be able to support their employees and other members of the organisation and help them become accustomed to the proposed change and or the change that is being implemented so are to mitigate or reduce the amount of resistance. It is also important that managers. Kotter’s model below illustrates how mangers can achieve this.
Resistance to change has always been viewed in the negative light and very little positive is ever said about it. It is however important to note that resistance can be looked at as a very valuable tool in the successful implementation of change and success of a company (Ford and Ford 2010). Resistance to change can be useful in that it provides a focus on the purpose of the proposed changes, it gives clarification on organisation strategies and objectives, it can be viewed as a vehicle for employee involvement and it also helps in the improvement of the change implementation plan.
Pertom an oil and gas company in south east Europe was acquired by OMV Austria in December 2004. The acquisition brought about planned changes into Pertom which was now known as Pertom OMV and they were to be implemented to the old company in order to improve it. The employees however were not given a chance to give their comments and feedback regarding these new changes. The employees were forced to accept the change and this was the wrong way of implementing the change. For employees who could no longer deal with new changes left the company at will. Another form of resistance that the company encountered was passive behaviour/dropping (Caruth, Middlebrock and Rachel 1985). This was the biggest form of resistance OMV Petrom encountered. The employees were not satisfied with the results of the changes as they did not seem to meet their expectations. Employee satisfaction is very important and is directly related to performance.
In conclusion, managers should make use of Plant’s model of effective change implementation which involves creating a positive attitude, communication, participation and involvement, education and support, credibility creation, acceptance and fairness and finally timing (Plant 1987). Change needs to be implemented systematically and in a way that is acceptable.
References
Caruth, J., Middlebrook, B., and Rachel, F., (1985) Overcoming resistance to change, Advanced Journal of Management, Vol. 50, Iss. 3
Ford, J.D., Ford, W. L., (2010) Stop Blaming Resistance to Change and Start Using It ‘Organizational Dynamics’. 39,(1), 24-36
Golden-Biddle, K., and Germann, K. (2006). Legitimizing a new role: Small wins and microprocesses of change. Academy of Management Journal, 49, 977–998
Hurn, J. B., (2012) ‘Management of change in a multinational company’. Industrial and Commercial Training 44(1), 41-46
Kotter, J.P.,(1996) Leading change: why transformation efforts fail, Harvard Business Review,
No. 73(2)
Plant, R., (1987) Managing change and making it stick, Glasgow: William Collins.
Smet, A., Lavoie, J., Hioe, E., (2012) ‘Developing better Change Leaders’. Mckinsey Quarterly 2, 98-104
Waddell, D., Sohal, S. A., (1998) ‘Resistance: a constructive tool for change management’. Journal of Management Decision 36(8), 543-548
Wanberg, C. R., and Banas, J. T,. (2000). Predictors and outcomes of openness to changes in a reorganizing workplace. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 132–142
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Insightful read. As employees, and generally humans, we fight change for fear of the unseen, but in reality, change is inevitable.
Thank you for the feedback. Fear of the unknown is indeed one of the major causes of resistance hence the need for good managers and leaders to initiate change in a way that will bing in the least form of resistance if any.