Resistance to change is a natural phenomenon; it is an inevitable response to any major change. There are several reasons for which employees oppose any change. By nature, individuals often fear the unknown. They tend to defend the status quo, particularly if they feel that their security or status is in danger. Some may view change as a threat to power or control. Folger and Skarlicki (1999) claim that "organisational change can generate skepticism and resistance in employees, making it sometimes difficult, even impossible, to implement organisational improvements" (p. 25). Ten classic reasons have been cited for which people resist change in the early stages of any new endeavour. We give them in Box.
Box : Reasons for Resistance to Change
• Loss of control: Too much is done to people, and too little is done by them.
• Too much uncertainty: Information about the next steps and likely future actions is not available.
• Surprise, surprise: Decisions are sprung full-blown without preparation or background.
• The costs of confusion: There are too many things changing simultaneously, interrupting routines, and making it hard to know the proper way to get things done.
• Loss of face: The declaration of a need for change makes people feel that they look stupid for their past actions, especially in front of peers.
• Concern about competence: People wonder about their ability to be effective after the change; whether they will be able to do what is required.
• Ripple effects: One change disrupts other unrelated plans.
• Past resentments: A legacy of distrust based on unkept promises or unaddressed grievances make it hard to be positive about the change effort.
• Real-threats: Change brings genuine pain or loss.
Defining Resistance
In order to comprehend the concept of employee resistance, it is essential to first define the term resistance. In Box , we present some well known definitions of resistance.
Box : Resistance Defined
• "Behaviour which is intended to protect an individual from the effects of real or imagined change." (Alvin Zander, 1950 cited in Dent and Goldberg,1999, p. 34).
• "Any conduct that serves to maintain the status quo in the face of pressure to alter the status quo." (Zaltman and Duncan, 1977 cited in Bradley, 2000, p. 76).
• "Employee behaviour that seeks to challenge, disrupt, or invert prevailing assumptions, discourses, and power relations." (Skarlicki, 1999, p. 36).
In a nutshell, resistance to change is an emotional / behavioural response to real or imagined threats to an established work routine.
Notwithstanding the cause, resistance can be powerful and it may really be an encumbrance to the implementation of any change process. As Rick Maurer 44(1996) in his book Beyond the Wall of Resistance indicates, more than 50% of all change efforts in organisations are unsuccessful mainly because of employees’ resistance. This brings us to the question: What forms does employees’ resistance take?
Forms of Employee Resistance
Employee resistance may take different forms: persistent reduction in outputs, increase in the number of “quits” and requests for transfer,chronic quarrels, sudden hostility, wildcat or slow down strikes, and of course the expression of a lot of pseudo logical reasons why the change will not work. The more petty forms of this resistance can be tiresome for a manager. We present in Box , the distinct ways that have been identified through which people, knowingly or unknowingly, resist change.
Box : Ways in Which People Resist Change
• Confusion − nrot realizing that change will take place.
• Immediate criticism − rejecting the change prior to understanding the details
• Denial − refusal to accept that things have changed or must change.
• Malicious compliance/sabotage − taking deliberate actions to undermine change.
• Easy agreement − saying yes, without fully realizing what one has agreed to.
• Deflection − a diversion tactic in the hope that the issue will go away in due course of time.
• Silence − failure to give any input. This form of resistance may be the most difficult to overcome.
So far you have learnt about the typical employee responses to change and reasons for their resistance to change. In the next section, we discuss the ways of managing change. But before studying further, you may like to relate the information presented so far to your own context.
Box : Reasons for Resistance to Change
• Loss of control: Too much is done to people, and too little is done by them.
• Too much uncertainty: Information about the next steps and likely future actions is not available.
• Surprise, surprise: Decisions are sprung full-blown without preparation or background.
• The costs of confusion: There are too many things changing simultaneously, interrupting routines, and making it hard to know the proper way to get things done.
• Loss of face: The declaration of a need for change makes people feel that they look stupid for their past actions, especially in front of peers.
• Concern about competence: People wonder about their ability to be effective after the change; whether they will be able to do what is required.
• Ripple effects: One change disrupts other unrelated plans.
• Past resentments: A legacy of distrust based on unkept promises or unaddressed grievances make it hard to be positive about the change effort.
• Real-threats: Change brings genuine pain or loss.
Defining Resistance
In order to comprehend the concept of employee resistance, it is essential to first define the term resistance. In Box , we present some well known definitions of resistance.
Box : Resistance Defined
• "Behaviour which is intended to protect an individual from the effects of real or imagined change." (Alvin Zander, 1950 cited in Dent and Goldberg,1999, p. 34).
• "Any conduct that serves to maintain the status quo in the face of pressure to alter the status quo." (Zaltman and Duncan, 1977 cited in Bradley, 2000, p. 76).
• "Employee behaviour that seeks to challenge, disrupt, or invert prevailing assumptions, discourses, and power relations." (Skarlicki, 1999, p. 36).
In a nutshell, resistance to change is an emotional / behavioural response to real or imagined threats to an established work routine.
Notwithstanding the cause, resistance can be powerful and it may really be an encumbrance to the implementation of any change process. As Rick Maurer 44(1996) in his book Beyond the Wall of Resistance indicates, more than 50% of all change efforts in organisations are unsuccessful mainly because of employees’ resistance. This brings us to the question: What forms does employees’ resistance take?
Forms of Employee Resistance
Employee resistance may take different forms: persistent reduction in outputs, increase in the number of “quits” and requests for transfer,chronic quarrels, sudden hostility, wildcat or slow down strikes, and of course the expression of a lot of pseudo logical reasons why the change will not work. The more petty forms of this resistance can be tiresome for a manager. We present in Box , the distinct ways that have been identified through which people, knowingly or unknowingly, resist change.
Box : Ways in Which People Resist Change
• Confusion − nrot realizing that change will take place.
• Immediate criticism − rejecting the change prior to understanding the details
• Denial − refusal to accept that things have changed or must change.
• Malicious compliance/sabotage − taking deliberate actions to undermine change.
• Easy agreement − saying yes, without fully realizing what one has agreed to.
• Deflection − a diversion tactic in the hope that the issue will go away in due course of time.
• Silence − failure to give any input. This form of resistance may be the most difficult to overcome.
So far you have learnt about the typical employee responses to change and reasons for their resistance to change. In the next section, we discuss the ways of managing change. But before studying further, you may like to relate the information presented so far to your own context.
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