Understanding Change Resistance: What It Looks Like and How to Manage It
Managing Resistance To Change
As they say in Star Trek, “resistance is futile”. Or is it? It’s up to you as a leader to anticipate resistance and make a plan to minimize it - or you can allow resistance to take root through a lack of change planning, leaving your initiative vulnerable to delays and failure. Switch provides insight into change resistance and helps to develop tactics to mitigate and manage resistance when it occurs.
Why Employees Resist Change
A sizable majority of transformation efforts fail, even when they make rational business sense and the current state of the business is understood to be less than perfect. Why? Because organizations are made up of people. Giving up an established way of working, even an imperfect one, may feel like a loss to employees. Psychologically, losses are twice as consequential as gains and human beings are hard-wired to avoid them.
Change causes uncertainty which leads to anxiety. Leaders should be aware that change may:
Mean a real or perceived loss of power or control,
Fuel personal fears around risk, failure, finances / job loss,
Tap into issues of trust within the organization,
Impact relationships within teams or the organization more broadly.
If there is a history of change failure in the organization, employees may opt to passively resist – waiting out the chaos because maybe the change won’t materialize this time, either.
The “devil you know” really is better than the devil you don’t when leadership doesn’t take the time to make the case for change and proactively prepare employees for what’s next. Resisting may also seem in an employee’s best interest if those communicating about the change aren’t credible. If there is a history of change failure in the organization, employees may opt to passively resist – waiting out the chaos because maybe the change won’t materialize this time, either.
What Resistance Looks Like
Change resistance can show up in many ways with both psychological and physiological manifestations. It is complex and personal, unique to the person impacted by the change. Based on extensive survey data, Prosci says it may take these forms:
Emotion: Looks like fear, loss, sadness, anger, anxiety, frustration, depression, focus on self
Disengagement: Looks like silence, ignoring communications, indifference, apathy, low morale
Work Impact: Looks like reduced productivity/efficiency, non-compliance, absenteeism, mistakes
Acting Out: Looks like conflict, arguments, sabotage; overbearing, aggressive or passive-aggressive behavior
Negativity: Looks like rumors/gossip, miscommunication, complaining, focus on problems,
celebrating failureAvoidance: Looks like ignoring the change, reverting to old behaviors, workarounds, abdicating responsibilities
Building Barriers: Looks like excuses, counterapproaches, recruiting dissenters, secrecy, breakdown in trust
Controlling: Looks like asking lots of questions, influencing outcomes, defending current state, using status
Managing Resistance
Resistance is unavoidable. Your job as a leader is to tackle it head-on. Switch can provide a roadmap and tools to do that:
Step 1: Familiarize yourself with why resistance happens and what it looks like
Step 2: Acknowledge the change culture you’re operating in (e.g., the success / failure history of change initiatives, attitudes of “this is how we do it here”, etc.)
Step 3 : Understand the root causes of change resistance. As a leader it is imperative that you look beyond the symptoms and prepare a range of tactics that address the root causes of resistance as they develop and change over time.
Step 4 :Anticipate resistance and mitigate by planning for it. Comprehensive change planning includes:
Conducting due diligence. It’s essential to understand what the change really means to those impacted. If someone “overreacts” to change it only means they reacted more or differently than you expected.
Identifying your most potent dissenters and putting in the effort to convert them.
Sharing the vision and giving people a part to play in turning the vision into reality
Illuminating what’s changing and “what’s in it for me” (WIIFM).
Removing barriers to change.
Demonstrating visible support and commitment from managers and change sponsors.
Planning and executing communications that utilize good communication practices, appropriate and varied channels, and trustworthy messengers.
Step 5: Respond when resistance happens despite all your preparation (because it will). Senior leaders, change sponsors, and people managers should be prepped and engaged to coach people through their resistance. For example, when faced with denial, appropriate leaders can explain the change, the reasons for it, and give examples of peers who are successfully navigating. When dealing with anxious employees, leaders should encourage talking, listen carefully, and offer accurate information that dispels rumors. Leaders should not debate feelings. When detachment occurs, leaders can give time and space to employees to process the change, set up a buddy system, and encourage group interactions. In any case, patience and thoughtful action is critical. It also is essential to continue utilizing good communication practices, while being mindful of confirmation bias – the tendency to seek and value information that validates an already-held point of view. Leaders should also present clear choices, consequences, and incentives for change.
Leveraging these tactics will ensure resistance is identified, addressed, and minimized in order to help you achieve success and limit negative impacts to your initiative.
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