The main reason for the failure of many change initiatives can be found as the resistance to change. Resistance to change is costly and time consuming into the change process which means long or short delays in any process of change that are difficult to anticipate but must be taken into consideration. Resistance has also been considered as a source of information, being useful in learning how to develop a more successful change process. Undoubtedly, resistance to change is a key topic in change management and should be seriously considered to help the organization to achieve the advantages of the transformation.
Resistance to change is an ongoing problem. At both the individual and the organizational levels, resistance to change impairs concerted efforts to improve performance. Many corporate change efforts have been initiated at tremendous cost only to be halted by resistance among the organization’s employees. Organizations as a whole also manifest behavior similar to that of individuals when faced with the need to change.
The relationship between individual and organizational resistance to change is important. An organization is a complex system of relationships between people, leaders, technologies, and work processes. From this interaction emerge organizational behavior, culture, and performance.
These emergent properties and behaviors are tightly linked in two directions to the lower-level interactions. Organizational resistance to change is an emergent property, and individual resistance to change can give rise to organizational resistance. A self-reinforcing loop of increasing resistance can develop as individuals create an environment in which resistance to change is the norm. That environment in turn encourages increased resistance to change among individual employees. The self-reinforcing nature of this loop can be tremendously powerful, defeating repeated attempts to break out of it.
Resistance to change is defined as a behavior, which is intended to protect an individual from the effects of real or imagined change. Resistance to change is an inevitable response to any major change. Individuals naturally rush to defend the status quo if they feel that their security and status are threatened. Resistance to change is a key topic in change management and should be seriously considered to help the organizations to achieve the advantages of the transformation. Resistance to change is simply a very effective, very powerful and a very useful survival mechanism in organizations.
These are some of those factors that often lead employees and top management resist changing.
- Ambiguity concerning alteration: Organization members may have a psychological resistance to change because they seek to avoid uncertainty. Past ways of doing things are well known and predictable, and the unwillingness to give up familiar tasks or relationship also cause resistance.
- Apprehension for mysterious: People become anxious when they exchange the old and familiar for something new and uncertain .A lack of information and understanding often leaves a vacuum which is filled by rumors, speculation and uncertainty.
- Disruption of Routine: Projected changes that disturb habitual routines or patterns are likely to encounter resistance because a person’s behavior is governed largely by habits and routine when a person successfully copes with a situation, he or she will usually continue to operate in a similar manner. The known is preferred and this is especially true when the established behavior has resulted in past successes.
- Loss of Existing Benefits: When the change causes employees to feel pressured, they may interpret change as a loss of individual security. There may be a emotional loss a loss of prior “comfort zone”.
- Threat to Position Power: As the title implies, any change that causes a manager to lose face will always be resisted. Changes that threaten to lower the status or prestige of the individual or group will probably meet resistance.
- Threat to Security: Change sometimes results in a potential disadvantage to an individual employee or group, and people tend to resist changes that threaten the security of their environment. There may be concerns for the vested interests such as the loss of job, reduced promotional potential, change in career opportunities, reduction in wages etc.
- Redistribution of Power: A major factor in resistance to innovation is that reorganization invariably implies a redistribution of power and influence. Individuals or groups who perceive that a change will lessen their degree of influence will strongly resist such changes.
- Disturb existing social networks: Generally technical changes are more readily accepted When do not disturb existing social networks. Friendships, social cliques, or informal teams may be threatened by changes.
- Resistance to the new Technology: They perceive that new technology will add up to more of unwanted work and will contribute to increased responsibility. They oppose the new processes because they feel that the change will not solve their problems, which they are experiencing.
- Organization’s past performance: The past performance of the change project impacts the perception of employees for the current change project, if the past change project had been introduced and was being failed. This may force them to oppose change.
- Lack of skill and experience: Managers are fearful about the skills, knowledge and responsibilities, which will be placed on them by the new business processes and technologies. They are also concerned about the experience to effectively manage their employee’s resistance. And they feel uncomfortable with their role in coping with the change.
- Disagreement with the new way: When the pace seems too excessive and fast, most people resist. And they conclude that the solution is not the best way for fixing the prevailing problems. So they disagree specifically with the change.
- Overload of tasks: At times they even put change in terms of an additional burden. They find the change initiative as an extra work and a resource strain. Along with the duty of implementing change they are also expected to perform their daily activities and avoid bringing about changes.
The resistance to change if ignored can have detrimental effects on the working of an organization .It is required to be fully reduced or eliminated on an individual levels as people can feign agreement to change and obtain control of change process. This would allow various mechanisms of sabotage to be employed from the inside the organizations such as they can mislead the organization members to completely stall or halt the change process.
Resistance to change can also set the managers against each other, as difference of opinions may exist. This will also lead to rumors and misinformation to be spread out deliberately for setting up a conflict within the organization. This can lead to strikes and no-cooperation movements within the organization which will seriously obstruct company’s plans and might prove to be the lot of production and time loss for the organization. Resistance to change can led to slowing up of processes as the people not conforming the change will deliberately delay the process by requesting further information. All such actions lead to increase in the overall costs to the organization.
Resistance to change may also put the reputation of the organization at stake as those opposing the change can go to media and give statements which may not be good for company’s image in the market.
There are some people living in a conservative world, for them change is often believed as a dangerous threat. For some of course change can be a positive thing however since most of negative cases were widely exposed more than the positive side, more people would normally be happy if changes do not take place. Change can be interpreted as promotion and demotion — which leaves many feel insecure with their future employment. They are worry about how they may have to do their work in different ways or their current “salary will be subject to change”. Admittedly, behind all the change process there are organisations needs for make more profits in any possible way which often leads to job-cutting and restructuring. In business world everything is a competition. Everyone within organisation must compete both internally and externally to keep their existing job or to get a better one.
Managers most of the time view resistance negatively and employees resisting to change are considered disobedient but often resistance may play a positive and useful role in any change process. Not all interventions are appropriate as implemented, the organization might be changing the wrong thing or doing it wrong. Just as conflict can sometimes be used constructively for change, legitimate resistance might bring about additional organizational change.
There are many idealist managers who believe that change process that occurs with only minimal resistance must have been a good change that was managed well. This understanding is an immature perspective which leaves resistance in the negative side of the change process.
All change involves loss. In many cases, change requires at the minimum that individuals give up familiar routines. In some cases, the loss is substantial, affecting position, power, networks of friends and colleagues, and such. In all these situations, rituals of transition can be crucial in assisting people to grieve and let go of the old and move on to the new.
The strategies for overcoming the barriers to change are quite diverse and touch on every aspect of the organization. No organization can begin using all the strategies at the same time or even in a short period of time. A better approach is to focus on one or two until they become part of the normal way of operating, i.e., until they become engrained in people’s habits. Only then is it time to introduce another strategy. In this way, over time, the organization gradually improves its abilities to learn rapidly, to adapt to new conditions, and to embrace change.