Organizational change is always a normal activity in any organization and it is meant to benefit the organization as a whole. However, resistance to change is a common thing. Resistance comes from the employees who feel that the new changes do not favor them. Therefore dealing with resistance to organizational change should always be addressed whenever it arises to facilitate the proper functioning of an organization.
In the first case, the employee is claiming that the former processes are appropriate and therefore should not be thrown away. This kind of resistance is what is called individual level resistance due to habits. The employee has just developed habit of doing certain processes and therefore ignores the new processes (CARSON, 1997). This problem can be addressed by educating this employee on the advantages of the new processes over the older ones. This will make the employee adopt the new processes and hence encourage the others to do the same.
In the second case, the employee accepts the directions given about carrying out the new processes but fails to do the processes. This type of resistance is what is called passive resistance. It shows that the employee is not willing to carry out the new processes. Giving reasons every time could just be a way of hiding the reasons for avoiding implementation of the new tasks. This resistance should be dealt with by evaluating whether the excuses given by the employees are reasonable. The reasons for failure to implement the new processes should be sought for in order to deal with the problem (STEINHOFF, 2007). To avoid such instances, the organization should first interview the employees to identify if they have accepted the new processes before adopting them. This will ensure that the organization is aware of any resistance before implementing changes. The employees will have a chance to oppose change before it is implemented or they can propose adjustments in the changes.
Active kind of resistance was experienced in our organization when the use of computers was introduced. The employees demonstrated arguing that the computers were going to lead to their unemployment. This resistance was caused by uncertainty and insecurity that the employees experienced. The employees were however educated on the importance of the use of the computers and were assured that they were not meant to make them unemployed. This strategy of dealing with resistance worked out due to the fact that it assured the employees of their security.
References
CARSON, K. D., CARSON, P. P., & PHILLIPS, J. S. (1997). The ABCs of collaborative change: the manager's guide to library renewal. Chicago, American Library Association.
STEINHOFF, G. (2007). Examining and addressing resistance to change in an elementary school. Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Delaware, 2007.
CAMERON, K. S., & QUINN, R. E. (2011). Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework. San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass.
