Resistances To Change.

 

Our egos are fragile and we often see change as threatening. One recent study showed that even when employees are shown data that suggest they need to change, they latch onto whatever data they can find that suggests they are okay and do not need to change. Employees who have negative feelings about change cope by not thinking about it, increasing their use of sick time and quitting. All these reactions can sap the organization of vital energy when it is most needed.

 

Resistance to change can be positive if it leads to open discussion and debate. These responses are usually preferable to apathy or silence and can indicate that members of the organization are engaged in the process, providing change agents an opportunity to explain the change effort.

 

Resistance does not necessarily surface in standardized ways. It can be overt, implicit, immediate or deferred. It is easiest for management to deal with overt and immediate resistance, such as complaints, a work slowdown or a strike/threat. The greater challenge is managing resistance that is implicit or deferred. These responses (loss of loyalty or motivation, increased errors or absenteeism) are more subtle and more difficult to recognize for what they are. Deferred actions also cloud the link between the change and the reaction to it and may surface weeks, months or even years later. Or a single change of little inherent impact may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back because resistance to earlier changes has been deferred and stockpiled.

 

Now let´s summarize the major forces, categorized by their source.

 

Individual Sources

• Habit - To cope with life’s complexities, we rely on habits or programmed responses. But when confronted with change, this tendency to respond in our accustomed ways becomes a source of resistance.

• Security - People with a high need for security are likely to resist change because it threatens feelings of safety.

• Economic factors - Changes in job tasks or established work routines can arouse economic fears if people are concerned that they will not be able to perform the new tasks or routines to their previous standards, especially when pay is closely tied to productivity.

• Selective information processing - Individuals are guilty of selectively processing information in order to keep their perceptions intact. They hear what they want to hear and they ignore information that challenges the world they have created.

 

Organizational Sources

• Structural inertia - Organizations have built-in mechanisms (ex their selection process and formalized regulations) to produce stability. When an organization is confronted with change, this structural inertia acts as a counterbalance to sustain stability.

• Limited focus of change - Organizations are made up of number of interdependent subsystems. One cannot be changed without affecting the others. So limited changes in subsystems tend to be nullified by the larger system.

• Group inertia - Even if individuals want to change their behavior, group norms may act as a constraint.

• Threat to expertise - Changes in organizational patterns may threaten the expertise of specialized groups.

• Threat to established resource allocations - Groups in the organization that control sizable resources often see change as a threat. They tend to be content with the way things are.