Resistance to Change

This report discusses the causes of resistance to change in Parks department and provides strategies to overcome it. It also evaluates the effectiveness of these strategies and concludes with recommendations.

RESISTANCE TO CHANGE
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Causes of resistance to change in Parks department........................................................................3
Overcome the resistance..................................................................................................................5
Critical evaluation............................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
Changes are part of social and organizational life.. Small alterations such as recruitment
of new candidate, restructuring operations etc are not sufficient to improve performance of the
company. This is a scheme in which entities make alterations in its alignments according to the
current environment necessity (Lu and et.al, 2013). Present study is based on case study of
Parkss department. Report will focus on types of changes, resistance to change of employees of
the organization. At the end of the report, several recommendations will be given so that Parks
department can overcome the resistance.
CAUSES OF RESISTANCE TO CHANGE IN PARKS DEPARTMENT
According to the view of Gavazov, Spiegelberger and Buttler, 2014 change is constant
feature in the personal and professionals lives (Gavazov, Spiegelberger and Buttler, 2014).
People generally resist the sudden modifications. The human wants to work in such environment
in which they are comfortable. As per the opinion of Hrebiniak, 2013 managers have to face
many resistance regarding their team members such as people avoid working with particular
department etc. It is very difficult to make modifications in such things in which people avoid to
accept it. Many authors have investigated that companies fail to take initiative regarding the
changes due to resistance of the staff members (Hrebiniak, 2013).
According to the case study of Parks department, there are many reasons of making
changes in the workplace. Increasing pressure of funding, use of old technologies, limited
number of customers, low standards of quality are the main causes due to which the entity has to
make modifications in the organization (Falloon, 2015). Kotter and Schlesinger research explains
in detail that why people do not accept the changes easily in the organizations. But this is not that
much easy task, there are many obstacles associated with it.
 Loss of existing benefits (Parochial self-interest): It is the main issue and due to this,
the employees of Parks department resist the changes. They think that if company
implement modifications then it might be possible that they will get less cash benefits
(Thompson and Carter, 2013). As currently, it is working with poor machinery so if there
would be new technologies then it may be possible that firm can terminate people
because maximum work will be done by such equipment so there would not be
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requirement of such large team in this department. By this way, they will have to face
many issues thus, they resist it That is the main cause of resistance of people.
 Apprehension for mysterious (misunderstanding and lack of trust): It is another
cause of non acceptance of modifications. People are more familiar with old techniques
and they have no knowledge about the new technologies. Thus, it would be difficult for
them to operate these machines (Pache and Santos, 2013). As due to lack of
communication, people do not understand that how beneficial are the changes and thus
they resists in accepting it.
 Threat of security: Changes in technologies and implementation of new techniques can
be threat for the Parks department (Rice, 2013). They feel insecure and due to this they
can raise their voice to not to accept these modifications.
 Redistribution of power (Security and stability): It is another cause of resistance of
employees of Parks department. People feel that their current power and authorities will
be distributed if company makes modification in its standards of quality. This can
influence then and can change their behavior towards the organization. Workers of Parks
department those who are at the higher post they feel insecure, that their power will be
gone tand they will not be able to remain in the same post (DuBrin, 2013).
Scott and Joffe change model is one of the effective model, it has four main stages:
◦ Denial: It is the stage in which changes do not sink in, people do not like the
modification. Several misunderstanding and fear takes place in their mind. Thus, they
ignore to accept the modifications (Lehmann and et.al, 2016).
◦ Resist: It is the phase in which higher authorities think that these are important
modifications and it would not be good if these get ignored. But employees do not
accept these alteration. Frustration, fear, anxiety etc. take place and people resist to
changes (Altamony and et.al, 2016).
◦ Explore: It is the stage in which organizations build up confidence of workers and
encourage them to test these modifications. It is very sensitive stage so management
of Parks department need to be care full because if any thing went wrong then this
will spoil the purpose of implementing changes (Scott and Jaffe Change Model,
2017).
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◦ Commit: It is the end phase in which employees are now empowered and confident.
They accept changes and follow this modified process. In this stage it become very
important to have effective communication so that no confusion and
misunderstanding takes place. Management have to make people aware with the role
and responsibilities so that they can perform their duties impressively.
OVERCOME THE RESISTANCE
According to the theory of John Kotter and Schlesinger there are six approaches which
supports the organization in managing resistance to change in the organization. Parks department
is suffering from this issue which is increasing pressure of funding and it has reduced the profit
of the organization (John Kotter and Leonard schlesinger, 2014). It is essential to make
modification in the workplace by making people agree so that desired output can come out.
Several options are available of managing resistance in the Parks department:
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Illustration 1: Illustration 1: Scott and Joffe change model
Source: (Scott and Jaffe Change Model, 2017)

 Education and communication: The main reason of resistance of change is lack of
information about new environment. People have fear and misconceptions that they will
lose their job if company implements modifications. One of the great method to
overcome and manage resistance is to educate employees of the organization and make
them aware about the real situation (Altamony and et.al, 2016). It can only possible by
making effective communication with them. It is the initial element in which Parks
department can educate employees about the benefits of changes. It will help in reducing
misunderstanding about the job insecurity and loss of benefits. By communicating
properly cited firm will be able to make them aware that they will get training for the new
technologies so that they can operate it easily. This will enhance their confidence and
people can accept changes easily (DuBrin, 2013). Participation and involvement: In this, Parks department can involve its staff members in
decision making process. This participation will increase their satisfaction level and they
will discuss their issues with the management. Thus, higher authorities will be able to
make them understand, it will help to manage resistance of changes. Participation is the
great tool of motivating employees, it helps them to make them loyal towards the brand
and they will understand the necessity of modifications in the workplace. When higher
authorities of Parks department do not have all relevant information about changes then
by involving all staff members company can gain increase their satisfaction and people
will share their experience and views (Rice, 2013). This will help to get innovative ideas
and employees will be confident that firm is thinking for them., Facilitating and support: Employees resist changes because they feel that they will not be
able to adjust to work in modified environment. Managers can react supportive and by
being supportive they will be able to make people positive towards the changes. This
support helps them to deal with fear and anxiety. This approach is beneficial and helps to
reduce fear of transfer, job loss of employees of Parks department. Training, counseling
will support the entity to make people agree for accepting the modifications (John Kotter
and Leonard schlesinger,2014.). Negotiation: Higher authorities of Parks department have fear that they will lose their
power, by motivating them and to offer them incentives, cited firm will be able to
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encourage them. Negotiation is the great tool or option for Parks department through
which company can gain trust of its staff members and can encourage them to put their
best efforts and accept changes (Rice, 2013). It is an effective technique or method and
will boost confidence of people and satisfied persons will be able to influence others too. Co-optation and manipulation: Increase salaries, offer incentives are too expensive
methods. Parks department can manage resistance with co-opt technique. Leaders can
influence people to a great extent; involvement of them during change process will help
to manage it (John Kotter and Leonard schlesinger,2014.).
 Explicit and implicit coercion: It is the method where it is very important for the
organization to make changes then this technique can be used by the management of
Parks department.
CRITICAL EVALUATION
From the above study it has been analyses that Parks department needs to make changes
in technologies and its increasing pressure of funds are creating pressure on the entity to modify
its current environment. But every time changes can not accept by people easily they resist
alteration because of fear and threats of loosing benefits. Employees do not accept changes easily
because they have fear of loss of benefit and threat of loosing power. Thus, they resist
modifications, but to manage these resistances Parks department need to take immediate actions
so that this issue can be managed by them. There are many strategies which can help to manage
resistance but it can be critically evaluated that these options have limitation and can create
problem in the workplace.
Various strategies have been analyzed above which can help to mange resistance of
workers in the Parks department. John Kotter and Schlesinger model is very effective and guide
management to deal with resistance but it is human nature that people can not accept
modifications immediately because of improper knowledge and insufficient information thus, it
is not necessary that these methods always work.
Resistance to change by employees is the burning issue in Parks department. People have
fear, misunderstanding that they will loos their job and benefits if they accept such
modifications. Company can give promotion to employees to motivate them so that they accept
changes easily. These option would be beneficial in making people aware about the benefits of
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modified process. Buy this way people will be motivated and will put their best efforts in the
organization (Pache and Santos, 2013). Thus, entity will be able to accomplish its objective and
mission. On other hand it may create complex situation too because class room training would
not be sufficient for employees of Parks department to understand the operating methods of these
new technologies. Thus, there would be high chances of doing mistakes then it will increase the
cost of the organization to great extent.
Changes are necessary to make it helps to run business smoothly according to the current
external environment but if people do not accept it then it may harm the brand image of the
company to great extent (John Kotter and Leonard schlesinger,2014). Negotiation is the good
options for Parks department but there is high possibility that incentives do not enhance
performance of workers. Though it will motivate the staff members but people will not be able
to handle such advanced equipment. Because they are very familiar with previous equipment. By
involving employees in the decision making process Parks department will be able to gain
attention and loyalty of its work force. But on other hand excess participation can create the
problem of leakage of data about strategies of the company. If all workers are getting involved in
the all meetings then if any one of them is not loyal then individual can leak the strategy of the
entity to other organization then it would create negative situation for the cited firm (Lu and et.al,
2013).
Effective communication and educating people are two main options through which
Parks department can manage resistance of change in the workplace. But class room training is
not sufficient for the organization. By giving training about the technologies to those who have
no knowledge about it, then it would be complete west of time (Rice, 2013). There is less
probability that employees will be able to gain experience and will effectively operate it. It
would be time and cost consuming option for the Parks department.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that changes are part of professionals life.
Continuous changing environmental conditions create the situation for the organization to
modify their current process. There are many causes of resistance of changes. Misunderstanding,
fear, insecurity are main reasons. Due to this, employees avoid accepting alterations. But as these
modifications are highly important for the growth of the organization so it is essential to take
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steps which can help to make people understand the importance of changes. Parks department
should make effective coordination with its staff members and have to involve them in decision
making process, by this way employees will be able to accept the changes. By giving advanced
training to them company will be able to gain actual results of these modifications.
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REFERENCES
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successful enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations: A theoretical
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Falloon, I. R., 2015. Handbook of behavioural family therapy. Routledge.
Gavazov, K., Spiegelberger, T. and Buttler, A., 2014. Transplantation of subalpine wood-pasture
turfs along a natural climatic gradient reveals lower resistance of unwooded pastures to
climate change compared to wooded ones. Oecologia. 174(4). pp.1425-1435.
Hrebiniak, L. G., 2013. Making strategy work: Leading effective execution and change. FT Press.
Lehmann, C. U. and et.al., 2016. Change Management for the Successful Adoption of Clinical
Information Systems. InClinical Informatics Study Guide (pp. 435-456). Springer
International Publishing.
Lu, L. and et.al., 2013. A review on the key issues for lithium-ion battery management in electric
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Pache, A. C. and Santos, F., 2013. Embedded in hybrid contexts: How individuals in
organizations respond to competing institutional logics.Research in the Sociology of
Organizations. 39. pp.3-35.
Rice, A. L., 2013. The enterprise and its environment: A system theory of management
organization (Vol. 10). Routledge.
Thompson, C. E. and Carter, R. T., 2013. Racial identity theory: Applications to individual,
group, and organizational interventions. Routledge.
Online
John Kotter and Leonard schlesinger,2014. Six change approaches. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.toolshero.com/change-management/six-change-approaches-kotter/>.
[Accessed on 13th January 2017].
Scott and Jaffe Change Model, 2017. [Online]. Available through: <managementstudyguide>.
[Accessed on 13th January 2017].
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