Measures to overcome resistance to change

[luttu]

What can management do to overcome the resistance of workers to the change?

[nbm]

Efforts at Individual Level
A change is likely to affect some people some way. It may affect only few while others may not be affected. When the resistance comes from the people at individual levels, the problems can be solved at the same level. For this purpose, the following efforts can be taken.
1. Involvement—Involvement is a procedure or process through which those who are affected by the change are brought to understand the change. This is not a one-time action, rather, it should be looked upon as a dialogue which continues over a period of time. It implies explanation and then discussion of the proposed changes. It includes finding out from the members how the; interpret the proposed changes and what they think about them. The fundamental idea in this process is to encourage the person to say something about any aspect of the change. People always have some ideas and opinions about what is going on in the world and more specially if it touches them personally. Gelling opinions out in the open, so that they are looked at and evaluated, is an important trust-building task. As this process goes, the level of resistance to change tends to decrease, understanding of change increases and personal involvement in the change increases.
2. Obtaining Commitment—Commitment is an agreement to take an active part in the actual mechanics of the change. Commitment to take part in the change programme can be obtained in private from each individual. However, sometimes getting a man to commit himself in private to a change programme may yield fewer results than if he voluntarily and publicly gives his commitment to an idea of change. The decision to commit oneself is a dynamic process. It grows slowly along with relationship.
3. Leadership-The role of leadership in getting acceptance for a change is very important as a capable- leader reinforces a climate of psychological support for change. A manager as weak leader presents change on the basis of the impersonal requirements of the situation, but a strong reder-manager can use personal reasons for change without arousing resistance. An effective leader tries to time a change to lit the psychological needs of his followers. Thus most of the limes either the subordinates do not resist or if they resist, the leader tries to overcome this resistance by leadership process.
4. Training and Psychological Counselling—The management can change the basic values of the people by training and psychological counselling. People should be educated to become familiar with change, its process, and working. They must be taught new skills, helped to change attitudes, and indoctrinated in new relationships. Such educational process can be aided by training classes, meetings and conferences. However, lo become effective, education must be part of the manager's everyday activity on the job. This helps in creating receptive environment in the Organisation.
Efforts at Group Level
Although agreement lo a change can be obtained individually, it is more meaningful if it is done- through group. Usually more than one person is involved in the change. Though each person interprets the change individually, often he expresses it through a group. Thus, instead of solving the problem at the individual level, it is desirable at the group level to get better acceptability of change.
Group is a means of change. Managers can take following steps:
1. Group Contact—Any effect to change is likely to succeed if the group accepts that change. For this purpose, the group itself should be the point of contact. The group contact offers some specific advantages: (i) Through groups, one can communicate with more people per unit of time, (ii) In group there may be some person who may support the idea for change even if it is resisted by others if the change agent belongs to the same group, (iii) Groups can get at the basic problems very rapidly as compared to the single individual. The same is true for problem-solving.
Through the group contact, many of the things about change can be made clear—such aspects as the reasons for change, benefits of change, and how the benefits of the change will be shared among organisation and its members. For this purpose, meaningful and continuous dialogue is necessary. Free flow of information helps people to understand the real picture of the change and many misunderstandings may be avoided. Even if only some of the members are affected by the change, taking of whole of the group into confidence helps in maintaining a co-operative attitude.
2. Participation—Participation helps to give people involved in the organisation change a feeling of importance. It makes people feel that the organisation needs and wants their opinions and ideas and is unwilling to go ahead without taking them into account. Those people who are directly affected by the change should be given opportunity to participate in that change before the final decisions are reached. However, mere participation may not help. The organisation must regard the participation as meaningful and share the results of the change with its members. This is more important in the case of workers who themselves treat a separate group and do not identify with the management. It would be prudent for management to take labour representatives into confidence before implementing any change. They must be made a party to the change rather than an agent for resistance to change.
3. Group Dynamics Training for Change—Group dynamics also help in providing various training programmes for accepting and implementing change. The laboratory method provides a setting where group processes can be studied intensively. It purports to train group members to recognise when processes are suitable to the task, what the results are, and how members contribute. Such training techniques include role-playing, psychodrama, and sensitivity or T-group training. Such training techniques provide understanding of behaviour, thereby the people can build up the climate based on mutual trust and understanding so essential for bringing organisational changes successfully.
Apart from what has been discussed above to overcome resistance to change, management can take certain action regarding change programme which invites lesser resistance. These are: (i) making useful and necessary change; (ii) recognising the possible effects of change and introducing it with adequate attention to human relations; (iii) creating an environment of mutual trust and respect between change agent and changes; and (iv) diagnosing the problems remaining after change and treating them properly.