To overcome resistance to change, you need to understand what prompts people to resist it. There are four reasons for opposition.
- Fear of the unknown. With little or no information about the reason for the change, your employees will imagine the worst. Instead of being energized for action, they will be tentative at best, paralyzed from fear at worst. They may believe that the change is unnecessary or will make things worse.
- Lack of involvement. Employees rarely embrace change when they are not involved in planning it. They may even feel manipulated, if the changes were kept secret during the planning stage.
- Worry about job security. After the change, more staff may be needed, or fewer employees may be enough. So further job insecurity is introduced into an already insecure workplace.
- Lack of confidence in management. They aren’t certain that the change will succeed, either because they suspect that management will not sustain interest in the change or because needed resources won’t be forthcoming. Past efforts didn’t live up to promises, and they expect the same to happen again.
The surest way to overcome these objections is to incorporate them into your announcement.
To identify how the news will strike your employees, consider how it impacted you. What was your first reaction when you heard about the change? Was it fear or elation? Was it confusion or understanding? Were you looking forward to the change, or were you worried about its effect on the status quo? Your employees are likely to feel the same way you did. You need to ensure that they understand not only the nature of the change but its ramifications on their work.