Resistance to Organisational Change and How to Overcome It
A people-centric guide on successfully leading change
74% of all organisational transformations fail. If you’ve been at the bottom end of these changes, you know it’s usually driven by a faceless name high in the company, for an unknown reason. When you feel you’re not involved in change, you are more likely to resist that change.
Two years ago, I created an automated system to manage the competencies and skills of our technicians. This reduced my workload by 50% and gave leaders the capability to forecast and see where training and manning crunch points would be. I put the system forward for wide-scale use across my organisation and was knocked back because we were getting a new piece of commercial software that would take over it instead.
After looking through the specs and capabilities of this software, there were many areas where my system was more effective, and it would be free to use. At every stage of combating this change, I was rebuffed as they had already spent the money — nobody would listen to me.
Fast forward a year and it turns out the new software was fantastic. Yet I fought and resisted change throughout the entire process.
So why did I resist this change?
Not once did anyone explain to me why we were using this software, how it would benefit the entire organisation or answer any of my questions about it. If I had been brought on board, then I could’ve helped with the transition.
So how do leaders successfully drive change?
Preparing Yourself for Change
As a leader, you’re responsible for successfully implementing change, and the biggest blocker for change will always be people. Once you have your team on board, change will come much more easily.
So, how do we ensure we get people on board? To overcome the resistance change brings, you need to prepare for it. As we say in the military, the 7 P’s are key to success.
Aim to know everything
Putting yourself in your employees' shoes and making sure you know what they’re going to ask you will help you prepare for it. Before starting the process, you need to ask yourself if you know the following, because I guarantee your employees will want to know.
- What’s the timeline?
- What are the benefits?
- What are the negatives?
- What barriers will there be?
What about if you don’t know these? Then do your best to find out and be honest if you don’t know.
Reactions to Change and How to Overcome Them
While there are many reactions to change, these will all be positive, negative or neutral. Each one needs dealing with in different ways.
1. Dealing with positive reactions
People are enthused for the change, great. This doesn’t mean you stop here and rest on your laurels. These people are going to be your greatest allies.
By taking the time to work with the positive respondents, you can have them promote change among their colleagues. Perception is a big deal for successful change, and the more people saying good things and championing it, the better. Those who don’t react positively are more likely to change their minds when their colleagues are promoting it, rather than the management.
2. Dealing with negative reactions
Some will be confused, anxious or lacking enthusiasm for the planned changes and this is okay. By listening to these people, you can understand their concerns and resolve them.
Provide a safe platform to speak their minds. Whether this is a town hall style meeting or where people can submit issues anonymously, which you answer and disseminate organisation wide.
Be open to criticism. Maybe people aren’t on board because there are obvious flaws in your plan. Sometimes this will just take you explaining how they are incorrect, other times there will be legitimate problems they’ve identified. By listening to this you will fix problems before they occur and encourage buy in by involving your critics.
Put yourself in their shoes. If major changes were happening outside of your control, how would you feel? People may be worried about losing jobs, decreased job satisfaction and increased effort to overcome hurdles your change is bringing. Think how you would want to be treated in the same situation. Being emphatic and compassionate will go a long way to understanding problems and resolving them.
Be positive, always. Like I said previously, perception is a big deal for embracing change. If they see you enthused about it, it’ll rub off on them.
3. Dealing with neutral reactions
Some of your people will be on the fence. In order to get these people from a neutral response to a positive response, you’re going to have to get them involved.
Keep them in the loop and hear what they have to say. If they know their concerns are being heard and addressed, they will get on board and smooth out the transition. Again, knowing potential flaws will allow you to resolve them.
Keep pushing the benefits. Will their jobs be easier? Is there going to be room for promotions or new skills? Make sure they know every way they’re going to benefit from the change.
Seeing it through
Keep everyone informed with changes as they happen. People like being kept in the loop and if you don’t, then rumours will spread and you can expect an increased negative response. These constant interactions will also provide an opportunity for feedback, so you understand concerns and can deal with them.
Be honest. Let your team know why the changes are happening, the planned benefit and how it will affect them. If you hide this from them, they’ll assume it’s negative. You don’t want people to switch from supporting you to opposing you.
Ensure everyone is ready prior to the changes. Routine updates, along with what you expect people to do, will reduce anxiety and make them feel more confident that they’ll be able to operate in a new environment. Make sure any training required is given before rollouts.
Listen, communicate and listen some more. While I’ve already covered this, it’s the key to success. By allowing people to be open with their issues and updating them with changes, you will give them confidence in the changes.
Constant interaction with your team will ensure you keep momentum and don’t stagnate.
Let’s think back to the change I faced, and why I was so resistant to it. I had a proven system that reduced my workload by 50%. At no point were any of the benefits explained to me. Every time I tried to communicate my concerns, they dismissed me without explanation on how they were being addressed. I was concerned my job was going to be made more difficult and nobody seemed to care.
Had my leadership taken the time to talk to me, hear my concerns and involve me in the change, I could’ve been an ally. Instead, I fought it every step of the way.
The below resources are those linked within the article, in addition to an article by ISO9001 on managing risk that comes with change.
