There isn’t a communication professional alive who hasn’t been confronted with resistance in some form or another.
In fact, comms pros are often called in to prevent or minimize resistance to upcoming transformations. However, they’re called in to clean up after big and small projects alike have come off the rails.
Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse
If you’re ever in a meeting and leaders use any of these three familiar phrases be forewarned -- they are expecting serious resistance…and they’re expecting you, the communications professional, to address it:
· “Change Management” (this is the most insidious one)
· “Change Behaviour”
· “New Process Roll Out”
All Too Human
Let’s start by acknowledging that resistance is NOT automatically the same thing as defiance. Yes, resistance can be active – meaning that employees speak and act against a proposed change (overtly or covertly). Furthermore, employees can influence others to resist, or find ways to have proposed changes overturned, delayed or modified.
However, in the vast majority of organizations, resistance is more frequently passive -- where employees remain silent about their views or appear to agree to changes but then don’t fully embrace them.
And let’s also acknowledge that resistance is a very human response to what happens in organizations.
Inadvertent Triggers
So, let’s talk about what organizations – in their quest to grow, stay competitive, remain viable – inadvertently do to amp up employees’ severity, duration and frequency of resistance.
Any of these situations increases resistance to change among some, or all segments of employees:
· Don’t involve employees in the change…which makes employees feel less important
· Sustain poor/unsafe working conditions…which erodes trust in, and emotional connection to, the organization
· Go silent – so that employees don’t have an appreciation for the problems/opportunities facing the organization
· Don’t address organizational cynicism (i.e., let harmful rumours circulate and go unanswered)
· Don’t provide adequate employee support for important initiatives -- including development of technical skills or processing skills
And if that wasn’t enough of a danger list, other characteristics of work environments contribute to employees’ natural resistance to change, including the following:
· High level of job insecurity
· When organizations don’t share the rationale and status for proposed changes
· When organizations don’t address lack of perceived injustice (i.e., when they show favoritism)
· When organizations or don’t address high levels of ambiguity
Do I hear a cry for an easy to use tool?
Be sure to check out the official episode's show notes as we delve into useful tools and how to solve the resistance equation!