How Emergent and Planned Change Can Bring Uncertainty in the Working Environment - Essay Example

An organization is faced by two main types of change, emerging change and planned change. Emerging change is unpredictable, unintentional and continuous. It is also less controlled, is chaotic and mostly happens in cycles. It is normally not initiated by anybody and happens naturally. On the other hand planned change is intentional, predictable and controlled. It involves sequential steps that are followed to alter an organizations behavior. It has a vision for the future, has a clear imperative that has definable benefits and its risks are known while there are a few unknowns. Both types of change impact greatly on an organization. Change brings a lot of anxiety and uncertainty in the working place due to its nature of changing the order of things. Human nature is generally resistant to any kind of change hence any changes in the work place that bring uncertainty are normally encountered with resistance (Handbook, 2001).

When a change occurs in the work place the first question that springs to the mind of the employee is whether or not they still will have a job after the changes have been effected. There is the fear and uncertainty of how the changes will affect their jobs. If for example a banking institution decides to automate its teller operations there will be uncertainty of where the banking employees who worked as tellers will go. Is the bank going to terminate their employment or are they going to be employed in another section? This usually occurs where the change is planned but the implementation of the plan is poor leading to a situation where the management does not involve the employees leaving them to speculate what will happen to their jobs (Visser, 1997).

Change can bring great transformation in an organization. Transformation comes with many new unknowns. This fear of the unknown can bring uncertainty and concern in an organization. It is normal for human beings to fear the unknown. The employees might not understand the process of transformation hence perceives it as dangerous and this brings fear, anxiety and uncertainty. With planned change, this fear of the unknown can be eliminated by having the employees involved every step of the way in the transformation process. This will make the employees understand the process better and eliminate the unknown entities and reduce uncertainties at the work places (Komodromos & Halkias, 2000).

When changes are needed it is mostly to improve the performance of an organization. So when such a need arises the employees question their competencies and ability to do their work well. This can have a negative effect on their self confidence. They may have doubts about their ability to continue performing in their jobs. Furthermore they will also be worried if they can perform the new tasks competently. Employees will also be uncertain of whether or not they can adopt to the new work procedures or new equipment. Questions will arise whether they will need refresher courses or will they need new qualifications. It is of utmost importance to explain to the employees the reason behind the proposed changes so that loss of confidence does not occur and also prepare the employees so that they can continue performing their new jobs competently hence eliminating such uncertainties (Randle, 2006).

For employees who have been in a workplace for a long time, they will be concerned about how the new changes will affect the tasks they are taxed with. Human beings are creatures of habit and changing the normal procedures will bring doubts and anxieties. This mostly affects work places which have a routine of doing tasks. There is worry if they can maintain the same work shifts or change the code of dressing. How the new changes will affect their personal plans for the future like say going for holidays or having children. Such doubt and anxiety can be eliminated in a planned change environment by having the employees participate in formulation of changes to be implemented. This will ensure their views are considered and the changes made are only the most necessary in their work routines (Kumar, 2012).

Change does not only severe old routines and habits but can also bring an end to long standing relationships between colleagues. There is uncertainty of whether the friendships will endure if say the colleague is transferred to another work station or terminated. Moreover the employees will be anxious on to whether they can have the same cordial relationships with the new employees and how they will relate to them. In some instances employees get attached to symbols and symbolic activity and they may fear getting rid of these attachments and they are uncertain whether the new symbols will foster the same loyalty and attachment they felt for their work places. In such cases it may require symbolic healing for the affected. It is the duty of the management to implement change in such a way as to minimize the feeling of loss and help employees overcome anxieties. This can be achieved by implementing change in phases (Management Association, 2012).

When the power of an individual, say a manager, is under threat because of changes in the order of doing business then the manager will fear that he may not be able to control his/her subordinates in the future. In some cases it may require to increase the manager’s control on the employees by observing more strict rules than usual. The future remains uncertain and nobody really knows who has control over what. This happens when there is emerging change which is normally characterized by chaos and it can happen any time anywhere. Since the changes occur without a plan or procedure, not knowing the end result leaves both the management and employees uncertain of who wields which powers and what roles each should play in the new environment. When such changes occur it is paramount that there exists a good communication process so that the changes that are emerging can be communicated to everyone as the happen (Buono & Jameson, 2010).

There are some instances when the changes are initiated by people that the employees feel is in bad faith. In this case the employees will not trust that these changes are for the good of the organization and may be anxious that the changes will worsen their work environment or even lead to the collapse of the organization all together. On the other hand in cases where the employee is too dependent on others, say an employee receiving support or favor from a manager, if the manager is changed the employee will dread that he may not get the same favors from the new manager (Randle, 2006).

The employees will be apprehensive of the increased work load. Not only will they have to do their normal work activities they will also have to be involved in the other activities that come with the new changes. There will be uncertainties of whether or not they can be able to handle the two activities to satisfaction. There will also be the concern for whether or not the resources allocated for the new activities will be sufficient and also if there will be deduction or sharing of the available resources with the new activities and how that may impact in their performance. Furthermore questions will linger on their minds as to whether or not the time given to implement changes in their work places will be sufficient. In instances where the changes are vast and transformative there tends to be deadlines to be met. With such aspects bearing on the minds of the employee it is without doubt that uncertainties will linger about what the future holds (Grieves, 2010).

Change, whether it is planned change or emergent change has a great effect on people. Both the managers and employees of an organization will be affected by changes in their workplaces both negatively and positively. With change comes a great deal of loss, confusion conflict and self confidence issues. All these effects bring about uncertainty about the job one has done in the past, uncertainty about what the present changes will affect and uncertainty about what the future holds. Sometimes uncertainty can be perceived as resistance to change. Whether the fears and anxieties are true or imagined it is always prudent to deal with them the best way to achieve this to have all the people in the organization involved in both the initial stages of planning the change and in the execution of the changes. It is also necessary to give the employee ample time to develop the skills required by the new changes. The chaos and confusion that change creates can be rectified by renegotiating and re-aligning formal patterns of policies and relationships. Change is inevitable and the only permanent thing is change itself. Change brings uncertainty and uncertainty brings resistance to change. For organizations to overcome resistance to change they have to overcome the uncertainties that cloud the minds of employees so that the changes that have to be implemented can have maximum effect and with minimum resistance.

.