Resistance to Change - Essay Example

Resistance to change in an organization may never disappear completely but it can only be reduced. One particularly useful method reducing resistanceto change is participation. Research has shown that participation helps to reduce resistance to change because it leads to commitment especially when it is voluntary (Jackson & Schuler, 2000). The members of the organization become part of the change process when they are given the opportunity to participate. The information that is possessed by the participants can be integrated into the change plan which helps them to be part of change itself.

The other tactic that can be used to reduce change in an organization is education. In most cases, when there is lack of information about a particular change initiative, people tend to resist it. it is therefore imperative to educate the members involved so that they can share the same understanding with the change agents. There are likely chances that people will understand why change is necessary in the organization if they are educated. For example, people may resist computerisation in their workplace in preference of traditional methods of storing and processing information which are manual in most cases.

The main reason for this resistance is that people may lack knowledge about operating computers. Therefore it is important to educate them so that they can also understand the benefits of using computers in the workplace. The other method that can be implemented in order to reduce resistance to change in the organization is negotiation. According to Jackson & Schuler (2000), when a certain group will clearly lose out in a change and that group has considerable power to resist, then it is important to negotiate.

Negotiation will create a win-win situation where the groups involved are likely to benefit from the change initiative at the end of the day. For instance, the management may not be able to fire the productive employees in the organization simply because they have resisted change. Instead, the two groups should come to the drawing table and negotiate so that they can map the way forward about how they can tackle the pressing issue together as a group not individuals. Cooptation is the other tactic that can be implemented in order to reduce change when other tactics will not work or are too expensive.

Different ideas are taken into consideration so as to enable the members of the organization to agree on one thing that can rescue the company from collapse. This is more of a compromise situation where a practical solution is sought in order to avoid a situation where the organization faces total collapse. This strategy is effective in that it gives the members of the organization some breathing space while they are working on a long lasting solution to address the problem that might have initiated the change.

References Jackson, S.E & Schuler, R.S. (2000). Managing Human Resources: A Partnership Perspective. Toronto: South Western College Publishing.