Managing Employee Resistance during Organizational Change: Causes and Solutions Available.

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine how employee resist to change during organizational change and how human resource managers can use organizational strategies to manage employee resistance.
 Methodology: The study adopted desktop research approach to review previous literature on the subject matter.
 Findings: The study found that employees’ reactions to change depend on the benefits that they think will result from it. If employees believe they will profit from organizational change, they will support it but they will resist it if they feel it will make them lose status, prestige, earning power, or the job. In some instances, employees resist change because they have to learn something new. In many cases, there is no disagreement with the benefits of the new process, but rather a fear of the unknown future and about the ability to adapt to it. The study also found out that a significant number of human resource managers fear employee resistance and do not use resistance as an opportunity to engage and learn.
 Conclusion: Evaluation of change will always lead to one of the four reactions: rejection, resistance, tolerance or acceptance.
 Recommendation: Human resource managers should be trained to possess the requisite skills and competencies in change management so that they could efficiently handle all forms of resistance from employees. Also, the study recommend human resource managers to study the root causes of employee resistance to change so that appropriate corrective measures and strategies can be developed.