Understanding and Overcoming

Resistance to Change

by Karina Gencheva

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 Introduction

Even though we live in an evermore dynamic world that’s subject to changes,

resistance to change in organizations remains a challenge and we observe reluctance to adopt

new systems and processes. Resistance to change occurs due to fear of the unknown, loss of

control, and challenged status quo, but overcoming it is imperative for organizational change

to be successful. Understanding the main reasons for resistance to change and tackling them

with effective strategies is the way to create an adaptable team and this is what this report

will go over. Finally, I’ll give some examples of successful change management case studies.

Causes of Resistance to Change

First, the main reason for resistance to change is fear of the unknown when employees

are asked to get out of their comfort zone and adopt new processes. Sarah Coleman and Bob

Thomas published a book on organizational change full of case studies explaining the change

themes from the eyes of practitioners. They draw a roadmap of the emotions and mindset of

people being led through a change. The sense of anxiety is an early-on occurrence: “The

person feels a real sense of disruption, possibly reacting with fear, anger or paralysis to what

the organization is trying to implement” (Coleman & Thomas, 2017). Commonly across

organizations when new processes are introduced, employees can feel lower confidence in

their skills in regards to the novelty. The authors caution about the virality of toxic emotions

due to which they can spread across an organization rapidly and require a lot of effort to

combat. Second, the loss of control that employees might feel when a change is imposed on

them can lead to frustration and resentment towards leadership. This happens when the

management introducing the change does not seek feedback and the employees don’t feel like

their opinion is valued or taken into consideration. Third, when the status quo is challenged

and an organizational change is introduced, this comes with new reporting structures, job

changes, layoffs and new hires, and hierarchy and authority alterations. Even though this can

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go both ways - benefit or diminish the perceived positives to employees, they tend to

predominately feel fear instead of excitement about ambiguous changes. How employees feel

about organizational change can impact the business and understanding this gives us an idea

of the symptoms and magnitude of the problem.

Impact of Resistance to Change

The impact of resistance to change can snowball and cripple the organization's

operations in the form of decreased morale and productivity, and disengagement. For

example, when an employee does not comply with a new work schedule that can directly

influence the team’s productivity. I would categorize the effects of resistance to change into

two buckets. The first one consists of hindered growth and innovation. When there is a lack

of adaptability on a team and organization level, the business as a whole becomes less

competitive because it can’t adapt quickly to market changes - both operationally and

strategically (mindset-wise). The second bucket is organizational dysfunction. This stems

from the disjointed nature of the organization when different people and teams are on

different pages regarding a change which increases conflict, decreases collaboration, can

delay timelines, and can even result in a higher employee turnover. For example, when the

members of the team are pushing against a change imposed by their manager, the conflict

itself will result in inefficiency and potentially missed deadlines. Change leaders need to

remember that change is associated with stress and even though not all stress is negative,

distressed employees can shift from “regular attendance to absenteeism, from punctuality to

tardiness, from diligent work to careless work, from a positive attitude to a negative attitude,

from openness to change to resistance to change, from cooperation to hostility” (Uhl-Bien,

2016). Operationally dysfunctional occurrences are common especially when there isn’t

enough attention paid to “operational readiness” for change implementation. This is another

theme heavily addressed by Coleman and Thomas as they define operational readiness as

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(one of) the best antidote for operational dysfunction that can fall into three categories:

process, governance, and people: “Deloitte (2012, 2013) [...] recognized that it is often the

‘people’ side of change delivery that presents the greatest challenge and is the least

predictable part of the change” (Coleman & Thomas, 2017). They proceed to go into four

cross-industry case studies to uncover the problems emerging from distress, resistance to

change, and the consequent operational dysfunction. The book illustrates with many

examples how easily misalignment between the change and the organization’s strategy can

impact the business via tension and conflict.

Strategies to Combat Resistance to Change

There is a large body of research and educational materials on strategies and

frameworks to help combat resistance to change. A recurring theme is transparency and

communication. This starts with clearly communicating what the change consists of and how

that will impact the organization and its members. When employees feel included and their

feedback valued, their fears get alleviated at least partly. Holding space for questions has a

similar effect. In addition, storytelling is a tactic to facilitate internal integration and establish

common identity among the organization’s members: “Storytelling can be a very effective

means of communication during change because it presents ideas in a non-confrontational

way. We experience a story with the storyteller, whereas we’re more analytical when

presented with facts” (Coleman & Thomas, 2017). For example, some actionable steps

change leaders can take is to set up town hall meetings or send out frequent updates via

email. The second widely popular strategy to fight resistance to change is employee

involvement, especially through informal leaders. This consists of granting ownership of

aspects of the change implementation to employees, which also tends to increase buy-in. This

has the highest impact with informal leaders at lower levels (Cohen & Hyde, 2016).

Involving employees from all levels, not just management, and employing upward leadership

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instills a sense of respect for the employees and increases their commitment to the change

(Kandathil, 2015). For example, a company can form cross-functional teams to brainstorm

ways to pilot new initiatives and products. Even though uncommon practice, when leaders at

lower levels influence those at higher levels regarding the change, the implementation’s

effectiveness increases (as illustrated by the case studies towards the end). The third strategy

I want to discuss is management leading by example and championing the change. This has

proven to be widely motivational for followers. Not only does observing their role models in

action increases employees’ confidence, but it also sends an implicit message that the change

is necessary and beneficial for the organization. It’s here to stay. Finally, resistance to change

can be resolved by providing training on the new processes, systems, and expectations. This

is an investment that management needs to make to break down skill barriers and get

employees more accustomed to the novelties in a safe environment. Training can be

one-on-one or just eLearning in the form of pre-recorded tutorials or instructions. Support

should be available for an adequate amount of time given the learning curve associated with

the change (Keček et al., 2023).

Case Studies

Some companies have implemented change successfully and others have been

unsuccessful. Let’s look at a couple of good examples. First, IBM smoothly transitioned from

a hardware to a software company by 1) involving employees in each step of the process, 2)

frequently communicating updates and expectations, and 3) providing extensive support and

training to its employees. The result was IBM emerging as a more agile and innovative

company. Similarly, P&G adopted a strategy change embracing customer-centricity and

continuous improvement under CEO Lafley, who emphasized the importance of involving

employees and their feedback as well as delegating ownership and empowering employees to

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be the drivers of change themselves. The outcome was sustainable growth for the company

(Dawson, 2003).

Conclusion

Resistance to change is a natural reaction to change, which is often intuitively

perceived as a threat and can put people in a “flight or fight” state. This usually stems from

fear of the unknown, loss of control and challenge of the status quo. Understanding the

underlying reasons helps change leaders mitigate resistance through employee involvement,

communication, support, and training. It’s important for organizations to embrace the idea of

change to remain competitive in an ever changing business landscape.

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