Resistance in Implementing Change in a Company - Essay Example

Resistance to Change There are numerous current challenges that face human resource professionals across organizations. One of the common and primary issues is resistance to change in organizations. Organizational change takes place in companies when they make a changeover from a current state to another desired state ( Holland 56). Contemporary business environment needs organizations to undertake transitions in order to continue being competitive. Aspects such as globalization and swiftly changing technology compel organizations to react in order to subsist. However, this change in organizations has been met with resistance from the employees within the organization. This resistance in organizations takes place when the employees realize that they do not want a change and protest. Sometimes, this resistance may be unknowingly, where the employees express their resistance though their actions, words they use to delineate the change, and the tales they tell at the working stations (Holland 62). As organizations change in order to be competitive in the contemporary business environment, resistance has been attributed to poor communication, a feeling of exclusion, self-interest, lack of the necessary skills and lack of trust. Transitions in most organizations have been resisted by employees since they require learning of new skills, for instance, adoption of new technology. On the other hand, trust plays an imperative role in adoption of transitions and the success of organizations ( Holland 65). It is challenging for human resource personnel to institute any changes in the organizations if the workers do not trust each other or if they do not trust the primary decision makers. In some instances, employees have attributed the transitions to numerous negative reasons or may presume that they will ultimately lose their jobs. Resistance to change by employees can have numerous adverse effects on an organization. These effects are far reaching and affect the progress of the company and motivation of the workers. Resistance to change can impede the accomplishment of human resources managers and the success of the organization as a whole. Needless to say, protest among the employees can influence the pace at which innovation is espoused ( Holland 71). It affects the sentiments, feelings and attitudes of the workers at all phases of the espousal process. When employees protest a change in their work stations, they may experience a decrease in their optimism and hopefulness on their professional prospect within the organization. This may take place particularly if there is little or no communication about the transition (Holland 73). This can, therefore, result to widespread decrease in employee motivation, which can sequentially raise issues in the retention of employees. Resistance to change also affects the productivity of the personnel and their associations. Low and reduced productivity results when employees spend more time protesting change within their workplaces and less time on the operations of the organization. This results to deceased efficiency and productivity among the workers, which impacts the organization’s bottom line. In reality, decreased levels of productivity will jump unswervingly to the surface of the basis for the transitions, as transitions are always aimed at increasing productivity and effectiveness of the organization (Holland 73-5). Resistance to change may trigger or cause a disorderly work setting. The staff members protesting against transition may cause upheavals with flare-ups concerning the transitions or develop a confrontational attitude towards the company management. This may be spread to the other workers within the organization, inspiring them to embrace similar acts and deeds, which can subsequently cause immense agitation among the workers. It is, therefore, imperative for the human resource professionals to spot resistance to change among the employees in the organization. It can be spotted through the stories that the employees tell each other and their actions. It can also be noted through absenteeism or lack of commitment towards operations of the company (Holland 75). On the other hand, human resource personnel can identify it when some of the workers challenge the transition publicly. Resistance is most visible in actions such as sarcastic comments, incessant quarrels and missed meetings. Human resource managers should take action to minimize resistance to change in order for the organization to be competitive. These professionals can achieve this through employing numerous techniques. It is imperative for human resource professionals to motivate employees to get rid of old practices and customs. This should be carried out in phases and not suddenly so that the “managed transition” takes the form of “natural change”. Other than normal resistance, transition in organizations introduces nervousness about the future. If the future after the transition is perceived positively, then the opposition by employees will be low (Holland 75). Therefore, communication and education are primary constituents in reducing negative responses and oppositions. The workers can be educated on the nature of the transition and the sensibleness behind it through memos, individual deliberations and reports. Additionally, human resource professionals can reduce or eliminate resistance through involving the employees in the design and the implementation process of the transition effort. In addition, it is imperative for the human resource manager to understand that the people who oppose change most are the supervisors and the managers. Therefore, he or she should first manage the change among the supervisors and the mangers before engaging the rest of the employees (Holland 76). Resistance to change can be reduced through rewards and negotiations. Human resource professionals can offer the employees incentives in order to guarantee their cooperation. In the present competitive business environment, it is essential for the human resource professionals to understand the present state of the company in order to manage change (Holland 80). This engrosses pinpointing the problems faced by the company, assigning a considerable degree of significance on the problems, and evaluating the transitions required to solve the problems. Notably, when resistance arises in implementing change in a company, the human resource personnel should identify the root cause of the opposition. In essence, one of the utmost errors that these professionals can do is to deal with the symptom other than the cause. Solving the symptom rather than the problem does not assist in fixing the problem, but only results in aggravating the people resisting the change. In this regard, the management of transition in an organization can be better attained through the assistance of human resources professionals than without. Works Cited Holland, Peter J. Contemporary Issues and Challenges in Hrm. Prahran, Vic: Tilde University Press, 2007. Print. Read More