Understanding Employee Resistance to Change

This assignment analyzes the multifaceted issue of employee resistance to change in organizations. It examines various reasons behind this resistance, including personal fears, lack of trust, perceived threats to job security, and insufficient communication. The analysis also considers the influence of organizational politics and ethics on change management processes.

MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE –
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Table of Contents
Introduction.......................................................................................................................3
What is organisational change and why is it required?...............................................................3
Resistance to change..................................................................................................................3
Reasons for the occurrence of resistance to change...........................................................3
Power and resistance in organisational change..................................................................5
Ethical implications of resisting workplace changes............................................................6
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................7
References.........................................................................................................................7

Introduction
What is organisational change and why is it required?
The spread of globalisation has had a great impact on the business world. The global business
world has decreased in its size and organisations throughout the world are openly dealing
with each other and there is constant movement of supplies, goods and resources from one
place to another. This increase in cross-border communication has also increased the level of
competition in every single industry. Business organisations are competing with each other
on a global scale and it has become very difficult for them to achieve market competencies
based on resources or operations (Bateh, Mario, & James, 2013). Furthermore, the internal
and external environment factors, to which the business organisations are vulnerable are
changing at such a pace that business organisations are being forced to introduce changes in
their operations and processes in order to compete with the latest trends and sustain in the
market. Thus, organisational change has become a necessary evil and is giving a tough time
to the managers of business organisation.
Resistance to change
As discussed above, organisational changes are giving a tough time to business organisations
and managers. Organisational changes are not just difficult to understand but are even more
difficult to implement. There have been so many organisations that have miserably failed in
their efforts to implement a workplace change and have lost their entire market share to their
competitors (Hon, Bloom, & Crant, 2011).
Resistance to change, in simple words, is the reaction that the individuals in an organisation
show when they perceive a change in their organisation as a threat to their status, work life,
personal life or the job itself (Georgalis, Samaratunge, & Lu, 2014). Resistance to change can
occur due to a number of reasons and can make it impossible for the managers to successfully
implement a change in the workplace.
Reasons for the occurrence of resistance to change
Resistance to change is one of the prime causes behind the failure of change management
programs and can occur because of the following reasons:

First of all, it is a natural tendency of human beings to resist a change. Human beings, by
nature, prefer to follow a straight up routine and are habitual of establishing a comfort zone
for themselves over a period of time. When they come to know about a change program and
how it may alter their work lives or personal lives, they perceive it is a threat to their comfort
zone and show resistance to the change program (Quast, 2012). Therefore, a certain amount
of resistance in always offered to change programs by the employees because of the natural
tendency that human beings have towards a change in their lives. For example, Nokia, one of
the leading mobile phone companies in the world, failed to implement a change because it
was overconfident with the market position that it had held for such a long time and did not
want to come out of its comfort zone (Atozgossips, 2016).
Secondly, a fear of the unknown is another reason that motivates the employees in an
organisation to resist workplace changes. In a lot of cases, it has been found that when
employees are not aware about the reasons because of which a change is being implemented,
the implications of a change management program or what are the objectives behind
introducing a change, they are more likely to resist a change rather than accepting it and
making it happen (Stark, 2010). Another interconnected reason, which makes employees
resist workplace changes, is the lack of communication in the organisation. In a number of
cases, it has been seen that if the managers of an organisation fail to establish proper
communication channels to keep the employees informed and engaged, the chances of
resistance to change increase exponentially. Thus, fear of the unknown and lack of
communication are two more reasons that give rise to resistance to change.
Thirdly, organisational politics and culture can also be a factor that can lead to resistance to
change. In a number of organisations, it has been found that the internal climate, bureaucracy
and the politics in the workplace can lead to a change being resisted by the employees
(TANNER, 2017). Politics and bureaucracy can have a negative impact on the employees and
they can show resistance to a change management program if it has been initiated by some
other group member.
Fourthly, loss of control is another key reason that has been found to have its impact on the
employees and also leading to resistance to change management programs. Employees
usually have familiar work routine and while working in their job roles, they establish a
control over their work environment over a period of time (RICK, 2011). When a change

management program asks them to bring about changes in their work and forces them to lose
their control, the employees feel powerless and confused and demonstrate resistance to
change.
Fifthly, lack of competencies is another reason that makes employees resist changes. This is
definitely one of the uncommon reasons known for resistance to change but is definitely
important to be considered. A number of times, it has been found that the employees, who do
not have the desired competencies to make a transition from one position to another, resist
workplace changes because they think that they will not be able to fulfil the expectations of
the company. Some of the employees can also be found saying that they already have the
desired competencies and they do not have to learn anything new to perform their jobs or that
they have already been performing their jobs in the best possible manner so what is the need
for a change. All these statements demonstrate their resistance to change.
Lastly, lack of reward is another major reason that makes employees resist workplace
changes. In most of the cases, related to change management, it has been found that the
management of business organisations forget to count the importance of motivating the
employees to accept the changes that they want to introduce (Adenle, 2011). Change
programs can only be possibly implemented when the employees perceive that there are
certainly some rewards associated with it or if it would help them in achieving something in
their career. In lack of a reward system, the employees do not feel the need to change their
work lives or the way in which they perform their jobs and show resistance to change.
Power and resistance in organisational change
In an organisational setup, power can be defined as the ability or the extent to which an
employee can exercise his or her control over the others or can have an influence on
important organisational matters. Higher a person sits in the hierarchy of the organisation,
higher is the power that he or she would enjoy over the others and in important matters of the
organisation.
There have been a lot studies carried out to study the effect of power on the resistance that is
offered to organisational change management programs. It has been found that, most of the
times, it is the people with power in an organisation that are the root causes of resistance to

change. One of the prime reasons for the occurrence of resistance to change is the fear of loss
or power in important matters of the company. When a change management program is on its
way, people with power in an organisation develop a fear that their power or authority in the
organisation will be undermined because of the changes that the management would bring in
the organisation. In certain change programs, where the entire organisation undergoes a
transition, there can be a complete restructuring of the organization under process. A
corporate restructuring is a major change that can eliminate certain important job positions
and can also limit the power that they have In such a scenario, business organisations can
expect a high level of resistance from the powerful people or the people who are at some top
managerial positions in the corporate structure (Webster, n.d.). The sole reason behind the
resistance is that they have a fear of their power being undermined or that they would lose the
authority that they enjoy over the other people. For example, in ABC Hospitality services,
one of the leading Indian fast food chain, it was once planned that the entire workforce would
receive work orders or duties from a centralised server so that assigning day-to-day duties to
the employees could be made easier. The managers of that particular fast food chain became
so insecure that they started planning to stop the change from being implemented.
Therefore, it is not wrong to say that resistance to change, in most of the cases, is power
driven in an organisational setup. Powerful people in an organisation can easily disrupt an
organisation’s attempts to implement workplace changes whenever they perceive a threat to
their power and status. Thus, power and the ability to resist workplace changes are directly
proportional to each other and the change agents should carefully deal with the powerful
people of the organisation.
Ethical implications of resisting workplace changes
Power in itself is a term that spreads a certain degree of negativity because its somewhat the
tendency of human beings to misuse the power that is vested into their positions. In an
organisational setup, it requires a lot of time and capability to reach a stage where a person
can enjoy a powerful status and an authority over the others. Power is not just about status but
it is about managing others and contributing towards the general good (Sargent, Sargent, &
Hardy, 2010). With great power, there also comes a great responsibility.
People who resist workplace changes just because they perceive them as a threat to their
power or status are acting unethically towards their juniors, seniors, company and the entire

stakeholders. It becomes an important duty of an organisation’s powerful people that they
lead the change by engaging themselves into it and helping their company in designing a
change management program that would be beneficial for the company as well as for the
stakeholders. Rather than resisting workplace changes, people with power should be the one
facilitating it and motivating others to help the company in implementing the desired
changes.
Whenever the scenario in the market changes, business organisations have to change as well.
Business organisations are forced to change in order to survive and it is not a random
decision to implement changes. When this happens, business organisations expect and rely on
the people on top level positions to take an initiative and help them in designing and
implementing a change program that would make them eve more competitive and also prove
to be beneficial for the employees (Antonellis, 2014). On the other hand, some powerful
people behave unethically not only towards the company but also towards the employees by
resisting the changes, which could have had positive outcomes for all the stakeholders.
Therefore, from an ethical point of view, powerful people who offer resistance to change
programs should do it only after they have carefully analysed the nature of the change and if
it can have a negative effect on the organisation as a whole.
Conclusion
It is not just difficult for the employees but is even more difficult for business organisations
to cope with change management programs. Business organisations heavily rely upon their
human resources and on the managerial level positions of their company to help them in
achieving success in whatever strategies they implement. Thus, it becomes an ethical duty of
the employees to avoid resisting changes unless they are actually negative in nature or can
have a negative impact on the organisation in the future.

References
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change-in-the-workplace/
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Retrieved October 8, 2017, from www.fireengineering.com:
http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-167/issue-6/features/how-
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Retrieved October 9, 2017, from www.forbes.com:
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TANNER, R. (2017, February 1). Organizational Change: 8 Reasons Why People Resist
Change . Retrieved October 9, 2017, from managementisajourney.com:
https://managementisajourney.com/organizational-change-8-reasons-why-people-
resist-change/
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https://www.leadershipthoughts.com/managing-power-driven-resistance-to-change/