Understanding Resistance
to Change by John Antos
Before anyone starts any type of change
management program, whether it be:
it is extremely important to understand those factors that
interfere with change management and determine priorities in addressing
these factors before, during, and after the change occurs..
Fear Loss of Their
Job
The most obvious factor that
interferes with change management is people fear that they may
lose their jobs. They don't care that long term the organization
will survive and prosper. They are concerned about feeding their
families, paying the mortgage, sending their children to
college, and saving for retirement. Employees resist change when
they fear they may lose their jobs
In a similar thought process,
employees fear any change in technology, process, and/or system
that will make them worth less to their organization. Managers
and executives resist any change that affects their job and/or
affects whether they will get promoted.
Some people and groups may resist
all forms of change especially if it involves technological
progress. As one executive of a $2 billion revenue organization
said, the old way has worked for 25 years so why would I want to
change. Meanwhile, a forward looking union president said to his
union members even though our company is laying off 36,000
people, if we improve our processes we will get more of the work
from plants that are being closed. His plant eventually hire 900
people while the company laid off 36,000 people.
Change
Means Learning and Discomfort
Resistance to change often occurs
because some employees don't want to learn a new way of
performing their processes. They prefer the status quo. They
don't like the discomfort that comes with learning new
equipment, new software, and
designing new processes.
Change they think will make their life more challenging even if
they get to keep their job.
Change may give employees more, less, or
different responsibility. Change causes the fear of the unknown. For many
employees who have done a job for several years or even several months, they
can almost do their job with their eyes close or at least partially shut.
Employees may have to move to a different
workstation, different building, and/or a different city. This can result in
a longer commute, not able to drop off or pick up their children at school,
selling their home, etc. .
All of this change interferes
with their daily habits of who they:
-
have coffee with
-
exercise with
-
report to
-
commute with
Change often requires mental
activity that many people would prefer not to exercise. It takes
effort to learn which can be exhausting. Change causes people to
be insecure and can lead to escape mechanisms like alcohol and
drugs.
Outcomes Are Not Clear
Change causes outcomes that may
not be clear or may not be anticipated even if the outcome is
better for the organization and the employee. Sometimes changes
can give a person a better job, but sometimes it can cause a
downgrade in title as well as pay. Studies show that most people
prefer certainty over unclear outcomes even when the unclear
outcomes can likely result in better pay and/or work
environment.
Change management often does not
provide enough factual information. Unless a person gets
sufficient factual information, they usually fear the worse.
Even when provided with factual information, they often chose to
interrupt change in a negative way. A large Fortune 500 company
talked about implementing
Activity Based Costing.
The Vice President of HR and CFO told everyone that no one would
lose their job. As one manager was walking out he told another
manager that he was going to sell his home because he was going
to lose his job. This was said even though he was told no one
would lose their jobs. He chose to interrupt what was said in a
very negative way.
Unclear outcomes caused by
missing information can be addressed by answering questions as
factually and completely as possible. Answers of "we don't know"
are acceptable as long as this is a correct answer and not just
to cover up the real answer.
No one can predict the outcome for sure.
Executives can only provide their best estimate of what the world will be
like after the change. Even if I understand the change, employees still
don't know how they will respond to that change.
Change
Can Have Unintended Consequences
An organization can create change
only to find out that change causes unintended consequences. An
insurance company decided they wanted their call center to
obtain claims information within six minutes. The call center
people closed the claims call in six minutes whether or not they
obtained all the information and whether or not they obtained
correct phone numbers, addresses, insurance number. This change
of a new performance measure for the call center employees
causes higher paid claims department employees to have to call
back a customer who became angry that they were being bothered.
The customers felt the call center people should have obtained
all the correct information on the first call. So change
management requires that change managers be aware of the Law of
Unintended Consequences.
Small changes (make people pay
for their own coffee) may make people think the company is going
bankrupt or the company does not care about its employees.
Change management requires testing out the changes with those
that will be affected by the change to at least understand
change management issues that need to be addressed and/or not
make certain changes that may seem very logical.
Interfering with Personal and Reporting Relationships
Employees develop relationships
with their co-workers. In some cases these relationships are
like those bonds formed when people are in the armed services, a
fraternity, or a church. They like and enjoy their co-workers.
Their co-workers make their job bearable. A change may be a
threat to these social interactions.
Change may also affect their prestige in an
organization. They fear they will no longer be respected.
Sometimes change can add or take
away responsibility. An executive no longer has an
administrative assistant and must do some of the tasks formerly
done by the administrative person. Or now they have to share an
administrative person or use a administrative staff pool. The
perception is executives are no held in high esteem or they have
to perform menial tasks that take away from why they were hire.
Some changes will delay getting things done.
Some changes will speed up the process but cause more work for the employee.
Again the unknown causes concern.
Executives, Managers, and Supervisors gets to
know those that report to them. They enjoy working with their direct
reports. Their direct reports get to know their bosses and learn to second
guess what their bosses will need. These direct reports provide a great
service to their bosses and give their bosses peace of mind that their
processes will be performed correctly. Change can disrupt processes.
People who report to a certain boss learn
their individual quirks whether they are good or bad. A boss may interrupt
but that is OK. My boss appreciate me even thought he or she does not say
so. My boss never handles details but depends on me to handle those details.
-
What will the new process be?
-
What will the new boss be like?
-
How will I have to change?
Will
There Be More or Less Control
The management structure of many
organizations is getting flatter. In the US, the average manager
has 7-8 direct reports. In Japan, the average manager has 100
direct reports. This flatter management structure is possible
since more employees have access to more information. This
change in access to more information means there is less need
for supervision. Although in some cases, change results in
more supervision, most change today results in less supervision.
Change instituted by staff
employees rather than operational employees can cause great
resistance. Some operational employees feel that the only
knowledgeable employees about their processes are operational
employees. They start with a preconditioned response that
whatever changes staff suggest can not be credible. They often
feel that staff suggest change just to promote themselves rather
than because the changes will result in improvement.
Resistance to change can occur
when any group feels they are the experts. Thus in these
situations, change will only occur if the experts are part of
the solution rather than some outside department telling them
what a better solution is.
The most successful organizations have Continuous
Improvement
By letting everyone know that change management is a continuous process.
That everyone is expected to continuously improve, then change becomes a way
of life. Change is no longer something that occurs every so many years, but
is something that occurs daily, monthly, and quarterly. This continuous
improvement process demystifies change and makes it easier to accept.
Organizations need to have a Process
Manager
who is responsible for change for a particular process. Part of that
responsibility includes a
Continuous Process Improvement Program.
This continuous process improvement becomes a way of life rather than
something to fear. If you try a number of new restaurants, you learn that
you like some better than others, but you look forward to the new foods or
new ways of preparing traditional foods. If you don't like something, that
is part of the experience. Likewise, change becomes something that makes
life more interesting, rather than something to be feared.
Union
Can Support Change or Interfere With Change
Unions have learned that they must support
change in order to grow the companies for which their members
work. some unions have lost tens of thousands and even hundreds
of thousands of members. This is not good.
This does not mean that unions will support every change.
Unions are more like to support changes that their members are involved with
creating. Unions are more likely to support changes where they see the union
as well as the members and the company will benefit. Unions need to be
involved and treated with respect.
So whether a company is buying new types of equipment or changing a
process the company must involve the union. The company must
ask the union for suggestions in order to avoid a grievance. They must
consider any impact on wages and the union workers.
Automation
Automation of equipment, computers or processes
requires learning new skills. Although automation may speed up a
process, it can also speed up the time required to fix a
problem. If you invest in stocks and mutual funds from your
computer you learn very quickly that by the time you push the
submit button and check the status of your order that order is
usually executed. There is no time to call your stock broker and
say you changed your mind, because the order is executed.
Likewise with wire transfers to your vendors or production
equipment employees have almost no time to react if an error is
made. Correcting such errors can take a great deal of
time.
So it is important for the purpose of change management that
the manager in charge of change understand this effect of automation. They
need to understand that safe guards may need to be put in place. For example
when you buy and sell stocks on the internet, your program usually says
something to the effect "Are you sure?" before it submits the order.
Likewise some automated equipment requires both hands be placed on a safety
switch to make sure your hands do not get caught in the equipment.
Automation can speed up processes, but it can also cause
other problems. Change managers must understand these potential problems and
build in appropriate safe guards without slowing down the process too much.
For computer applications, software has its own
jargon. People may have to understand what is a "cache", what is
an "API"? and why do I need to know. The computer may have built
in decision making ability that lowers their prestige and/or
lower their pay. Where does this data come from? How do I know
this data is correct? Who replaced the person I used to contact
when their was a problem or a question? These questions must be
addressed. These questions must be answered in plain English
rather than in computer jargon. They must be answered by people
who understand that not everyone is a computer expert and just
because they don't understand computers, they are still smart in
their own jobs.
Change and Culture
of Your Organization
Change needs to be viewed in the context of your
industry and culture. Some industries have a great deal of
change like cell phone manufacturers. Every 6 months a new phone
comes out with new features replacing an older model. Change is
relentless and continuous. In these types of industries,
employees are more used to change. They understand change is
part of life. Everyday brings something new.
Let's take a soft drink or milk manufacturer. At least as
compared to the cell phone company, there is probably less change. Soft
drinks have been manufactured the same way for many years with the same
ingredients in the same containers. Yes we now have vitamin water, juices,
etc. but there is less change in some industries and more change in other
industries.
The amount of change in an industry can have a great affect
on how well an organization adjusts to change.
Change will usually affect more parts of an organization
than an initial review may point out. An organization must apply Process
Management techniques if the organization is to be
successful.
 The
organization must use Process
Flow Charts to determine where a process starts and where it
finishes. Process flow charts should also include where support processes
touch the process. For example how does purchasing, accounts payable, and IT
affect the process? Failing to look at the entire process and its supporting
processes increases the chances that there will be negative consequences to
any change.
Likewise, unless the organization understands how a change
will affect the entire process, the organization runs the risk of sub
optimizing a process. Sub optimizing a process means that a sub process will
be improved but the performance of the entire process will be reduced. Then
the organization has to change the change which is seldom good for employee
buy-in.
All organization have a formal organization
chart and an informal organization chart. Smart change managers
understand that change must involve both groups. Sometimes an
employee does not have a high ranking job, but they are
important to get their support for employee buy-in.
Rumors can not be stopped but rumors must be addressed.
There must be some safe way for employees to express concerns without
suffering retribution as not being a team player. An anonymous comment box
is one way to handle rumors. A person tied in to rumors who will share the
rumors and even respond to the rumors for the organization is another way to
handle rumors.
It is important to address rumors so employees do not
sabotage the change. A company website that addresses questions and informs
other departments about the change is another way to handle rumors.
Those of us who have been involved with change
for many years understand that no one can predict with certainty
the outcome of any change program. However, the more time spent
in addressing potential change issues will save time in
resolving sabotage issues later.
What
Will Normal Look Like?
Below are some of the questions
that employees will ask.
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What will normal look like?
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What can I expect in terms of when I can
talk?
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When I can disagree?
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How often I can go to the bathroom?
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Can I call my mother at home?
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Can I be 15 minutes late if I stay 15
minutes longer?
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Can I make mistakes? How many
mistakes?
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Can I visit at the coffee machine with a
co-worker?
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Will my new boss like me? Will I like my
new boss? Will my job be easier or more difficult?
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Do I have to ask permission to handle
exceptions or can I decide?
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Will I have to work with other
departments more or just within my own department?
Change management must consider these issues
as change is introduced.
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