6 WAYS OF REDUCING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

1.    Persuasion, rewards and bargaining

Whether employees can be ‘persuaded’ to accept change depends essentially on whether they can be assured that their specific anxieties are groundless, or that they will be adequately compensated for any loss suffered. This may involve bargaining for change with employees’ representatives, as well as dealing with individuals. How successful management’s approach will be depends largely on how well the rewards they offer match employees’ wants and expectations, whether they give serious consideration to grievances, concerns and suggestions; and whether they are prepared to make reasonable concessions to achieve their objectives.

2.    Time and timing

Introducing a change in a way that minimises resistance may take a fair amount of time. Management will usually find that the cost of taking time to prepare employees for a change will be less in the long run than the cost of increased resistance and decreased benefits otherwise.

Where possible, it may be worth making changes tentative – a ‘trial period’ – so that employees can test their reactions before committing themselves fully, to get more information and to view the change more objectively. This approach allows some flexibility for management and employees are able to evaluate the method of change and propose modifications. There should always be some room for people’s suggestions and contributions, as well as unforeseen factors, to be taken into account.

3.    Group participation

Where appropriate, the group should be actively involved in the process of assessing the need for, and introducing, the change.

4.    Understanding and information

There is a direct relationship between how much those involved in a change understand about it and its implications and their attitude towards it. When as many people as possible understand as much as possible about the change and how it will affect them, their resistance will probably be lessened. This doesn’t mean that management, simply by keeping people informed, can automatically get them to accept its point of view – a fact which management often fails to appreciate. Full knowledge of the implications of a change may well reveal that the interests of certain individuals and groups are threatened. There is now, however, a rational basis for discussion, consultation and negotiation to resolve the conflicts in an objective way. When, on the other hand, little information is given, the vacuum created will be filled by rumours, conjectures and assumptions, which are likely to increase barriers to the acceptability of the change.

During a change, therefore, management must pay special attention to communicating a full understanding of all aspects of the change and its probable consequences. This will involve discussion and consultation with individuals and work groups, as well as with the normal joint consultative mechanisms such as joint committees, staff associations and trade unions. They must also ensure that they have feedback on how effective an understanding is being achieved.

5.    Consultation, communication and participation

Gaining co-operation in a change situation often requires going beyond merely providing information, or even persuading employees that the decision taken is the right one. It may mean involving them in the decision making process until their consent is secured to a proposal after a period of consultation – or, where conflicting interests are involved, after negotiation – to achieve a compromise acceptable to all interested parties. Otherwise, groups or individuals who feel their interests have been ignored, may put up a good deal of resistance – perhaps to the point of taking some form of action.

The process of achieving consent and commitment is often referred to as participation. Management has recognised how important it is for them to find ways and means to allow and encourage employees to share in the processes of decision- making which directly affect them. This may reduce some of the hostility and mutual suspicion surrounding the change.

Communication and consultation are essential. They are necessary to promote operational efficiency and mutual understanding, as well as the individual employee’s sense of satisfaction and involvement in their jobs. Management, staff associations, employee representatives and trade unions should co-operate in ensuring that effective communication and consultation take place.

Communication and consultation are particularly important in times of change. The achievement of change is a joint concern of management and employees and should be carried out in a way which pays regard both to the efficiency of the undertaking and to the interests of the employees. Major changes in working arrangements should not be made by management without prior discussion with employees or their representatives.

In its day-to-day conduct of business, management needs both to give information to employees and to receive information from them. Effective arrangements should be made to facilitate this two-way flow.

The most important method of communication is by word of mouth, through personal contact between each manager and their immediate work group, or individual employees and between managers and employees representatives. Management, staff associations, employee representatives and trade unions should co-operate in keeping employees informed of the conclusions reached through negotiation and consultation.

Consultation means jointly examining and discussing problems of concern to both management and employees. It involves seeking mutually acceptable solutions through a genuine exchange of views and information.

Consultation between management and employees or their representatives about operational and other day-to-day matters is necessary in all organisations, whatever their size. Organisations with more than 250 employees should have systematic arrangements for management and employee representatives to meet regularly.

Management should take the initiative in setting up and maintaining consultative arrangements best suited to the circumstances of the organisation, in co-operation with employee representatives and trade unions concerned. In setting up the consultative arrangements, management should ensure that:

·       The arrangements provide opportunities for employees to express their views on proposed changes which affect them and encourage discussion, at whatever level is most appropriate, of matters closely associated with the work situation.

·         Employee representatives have all the information they require to enable them to participate effectively in discussions.

·         Senior management take an active part in consultation.

Where committees are set up, management and employee representatives should agree on their composition; how representatives are to be chosen; the rules of procedure; and the range of subjects to be discussed.

6.    Negotiating change

Consultation and negotiation are closely related, but distinct, processes. Consultation involves seeking the views of workers before planned changes are implemented. As a result, management may decide to modify their plans; but they reserve the right to take the final decision. In negotiation, the parties accept that there is a conflict of interest between them and seek to resolve it by comprehensive agreement, in which the perspectives of both can be accommodated in a kind of trade-off. Which party benefits most ultimately depends on the balance or power between them; but there is an acceptance that each side has a legitimate part to play in determining the final outcome.

Management and employee representatives involved in seeking to implement change with minimal conflict should consider carefully how to link the two processes. Management will want to give priority to consultation. Employees representatives, on the other hand, often prefer not to make a clear-cut distinction in practice between the two processes – changes about which they are consulted may also become the subject of negotiation (or bargaining). Trade unions representatives may well press management to make formal written agreements on the introduction of change covering, for example, job security and/or the introduction of new technology.