An Elaboration on the Ways of Overcoming Resistance to Change in an Organization

Abstract

Change happens every day in business and in our personal lives. The same person who adapts well to personal change may not adapt well to change in their professional life. As a leader, how do you overcome resistance to change with employees? I think it depends on the nature of the change. Changes that personally impact many employees, such as a downsizing, merger/acquisition, change in the top leadership…these are changes that have widespread implications. Other changes, such as a change in technology, direction of their department, change in their individual roles/responsibilities…these, I believe, are more easily handled. But the question ‘how to overcome resistance to change’ is not easy to answer regardless of the magnitude of the change. Truth is, change is difficult for many and there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Much resistance to change can be avoided if effective change management is applied on the project from the very beginning. While resistance is the normal human reaction in times of change, good change management can mitigate much of this resistance. Change management is not just a tool for managing resistance when it occurs; it is most effective as a tool for activating and engaging employees in a change. Capturing and leveraging the passion and positive emotion surrounding a change can many times prevent resistance from occurring—this is the power of utilizing structured change management from the initiation of a project. The present study constitutes a study of the ways to overcome resistance to change in on organizations.