Resistance to Change phenomenon as a positive force for organisations - Essay Example

Resistance to Change phenomenon as a positive force for organisations Introduction Change is pervasive in every organisationwith the current economy, and it happens continuously at a rapid speed. On the other hand, resistance remains an inevitable response to any major change, and people naturally rush to defend their status quo especially during compromising status or security threats. According to Tanachart and Islam (2010 p. 28), organisational change can create cynicism and resistance in employees, which may sometimes make it difficult to implement organisational change. Nieuwenhuizen et al. (2008 p. 468) defines resistance as an action proposed to defend a person from the effects of change. The competition is quite high making change inevitable hence the need for every organisation to manage change. Researchers argue that the employees will resist change despite its benefits to them and the organisation. However, change resistance is the last thing that management would like during any changing process although theorists argue that it is helpful. This paper discusses the positive effects of change resistance considering that well-intended debates, criticisms, or disagreements may contribute to better understanding between the organisation and its employees. Change is here to stay and any company, according to Hill and Jones (2007 p. 243) without change risks a competition that could drive them out of business and possible closure. In any organisational structure, change comes from above, and therefore managers should possess a change management skill. Unfortunately, most employees do not respond positively to change, and that calls for managers to understand why they resist the change. Robert Kennedy once quoted that 20% of the people resist change. No matter the effectiveness of a leader, the change efforts will always face challenge or sabotage. For this reason, organisational change does not come easy, and two-thirds of organisational changes fail. Therefore, it is important for an organisation to expect resistance and plan for it before commencing the change. This expectation will help the organisation to prepare for the worst, and apply change management skills in handling the resistance. Campbell (2014 p. 78) emphasises on the need for managers to possess change management skills for the sake of handling resistance. Hill and Jones (2007 p. 243) argue that the greatest significance of a change in any organisation is that it presents conceptual scaffolding for people, the process, and the organisation implementing change. There are many advantages of change in any organisation including motivation and assessment of progress. Accepting change in an organisation helps in faster response to clients. According to Hill and Jones (2007 p. 244), it also helps in aligning the existing resources within the organisation. The proponents of change may argue that a change implementation does not affect daily running of the company and that accepting change may reduce the time needed to implement it. In addition, the proponents feel that accepting change reduces the possibility of unsuccessful change and employee performance increases with understanding the change process. Therefore, accepting change increases the returns of investment while facilitating organisational growth in leadership and team development. However, many disadvantages come with these changes hence the need change resistance. Saxena (2007 p. 108) argues that there is the issue of job loss that is quite common during any organisational change. Many employees may resist change for fear of losing their jobs, therefore, defending their positions. The current economy demands that every person should possess a job due to the economic hard times. In addition, the job competition is equally high due to globalisation. Therefore, any employee would fear losing his or her job due to organisational change. According to Clink and Duening (2004 p. 140), all organisational changes involve working smarter, streamlining and efficiency round the clock. Communication equally plays a role during change because of bad communication strategy applied by the management. Research shows that many managers have poor communication skills that result to misunderstandings between them and their employees. The managers fail to inform the employees in advance making them understand why change is necessary, and the employees feel that the manager seems to shove it down their throats. Change brings the fear of the unknown, and this comes with insecurities. Therefore, there is need for every manager to possess some communication skills, which may reduce the change resistance. Saxena (2007 p. 108) argues that Organisational change comes with lack of control considering that routines help employees in developing a sense of control especially over their working environment. Therefore, change may make them feel powerless hence affecting their productivity. Sometimes a change may include changing skills (Campbell 2014 p. 77), and this lowers the competence among employees who are not able to adapt the transition. Poor timing and lack of reward during the change is demoralizing to some employees and therefore they will resist change. Some employees may resist change for political reasons in order to prove the change is wrong. There are employees who work in a comfort zone due to their relationships with management, and they will fear change that may affect their comfort. Other employees may have past experiences with change that did not favor them hence they are bound to resist to change. Therefore, resisting change has its positive effects because it protects people’s jobs. Kumar (2011 p. 176) argues that accepting change means accepting consequences related to the changes that have negative effects. While resistance may be due to parochial interests like implications of individual interests, their view may favor even the proponents of change. Some of them have previous experiences and therefore, may enlighten the ones who do not understand the implications of change. Protecting habits and comfort is all right for the anti-change campaigners because every employee deserves to work in a comfortable environment. Most managers dictate change that sometimes may not always be positive to both the organisation and employees (Campbell 2014 p. 77). This type of dictatorship can only stop through change resistance. Some managers make changes before consulting their employees who may have more information depending on their networking. It is important to consult the junior employees because involving them in any decision-making tends to create a good relationship full of trust. Consulting them reduces misunderstanding, which plays a big role in change resistance. On the other hand, employees should not always accept change especially in a situation where a change may bring closure to the company. Management can make wrong decisions, which employees have the right to reject. Such changes include the methods of promotion, salary increment, and working hours. Some companies may have protection from the Union but others are not members of the Union. The latter should be able to have a representative to forward their grievances in case of such changes. Some changes have caused illegal job terminations in organisations or laying people off without proper benefits. The employees should be able to resist to such moves, and if possible sue the company. Strebel (1996 p. 90) argues that resisting change has positive effects especially where personal compacts comprise of formal, social, and psychological dimensions. The formal dimension involves the relationship between basic tasks and the requirements of the job, employee contracts and other agreements. The psychological dimension involves relationships in mutual trust, loyalty and commitment. Lastly, the social dimension includes the organisational culture, like mission statement, ethics, values and practices. Therefore, any resistance protecting these dimensions remains varied. In order to make a persuasive change possible, the management must be knowledgeable in change management (Clink & Duening 2004 p. 146). An effective changing process means having the management and the employees agreeing on the introduced changes and managing any resistance to avoid occupational stress. There are no concrete solutions to change because change effects are more psychological than physical. Every individual is different, and has different perceptions meaning that each person has different reasons for resisting change. All these changes come with stress hence the need to resist some changes. Stressed employees result to low outputs hence less production. According to Hill and Jones (2007 p. 256), stress may equally lead to poor internal communication and consequently conflicts in the workplace that is undesirable and detrimental to organisational health. Therefore, for the sake of the organisation’s well-being, it is important to unlock the secrets of individual rationality. Conclusion Managers often perceive resistance negatively, which is not always the case. These managers equally perceive the resisting employees as disobedient, and obstacles that the organisations should overcome in order to achieve their objectives. However, employee resistances may sometimes have positive effects on an organisation. Cases of discerning, and well-intended debate, disagreements, or criticisms do not necessarily mean negative resistance. Instead, this resistance may intend to produce better understanding while adding options and solutions. In addition, some managers may perceive change resistance as negative based on individual’s ethical principles. Job loss, insecurities, lack of proper communication and consultations are some of the drivers of change resistance. Management is prone to mistakes and therefore the employees may have a right to resist. In addition, some resistance change may protect the organisation from closure especially where wrong decisions from management apply. Therefore, Organisational change has its range of advantages, but change resistance is an added advantage to the organisation. References CAMPBELL, H. (2014). Managing organizational change. http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?bookid=65154. CLICK, R. L., & DUENING, T. N. (2004). 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New York, AMACOM. ZIMMERMANN, N. (2011). Dynamics of drivers of organizational change. Wiesbaden, Gabler Verlag / Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, Wiesbaden. Read More