Factors Driving Organizational Change, Causes Of Resistance And Strategies For An Effective Change Process

Internal factors driving organizational change

Change is the only constant. For the growth of a business, it is imperative that it changes on a consistent basis. This helps in paving way for the new by altering the old. Change management is extremely essential for the success of any organization. The changes in business can take various forms. This can include a change in leadership, adoption of a new technology, new policies and procedures, expanding geographically, entering new markets or recruiting new employees (Carnall, 2018). These are certain changes that every organization has to deal with. It is the responsibility of organizational leaders that any change that takes place in the organization is conducted and managed in an efficient manner.

There are several factors that create the need for change while there are certain factors that create a resistance towards change. It is the leaders and the managers of the organization who can proficiently conduct the change and establish a culture within the organization where change is accepted (Cameron & Green, 2015). This report highlights upon these factors and understands the roles and responsibilities of organizational stakeholder in the entire change process. Strategies have also been recommended that can be adopted for a smooth change management process.

Internal

Internal factors are those which are taking place inside the organization. These factors tend to drive change within the business by impacting all stakeholders associated with the firm. The foremost factor is the change in leadership (Kuipers et. al., 2014). If a business has a leadership change then other stakeholders too will get impacted by the change in leadership. A leader has the responsibility to guide the team. Therefore the values and working style of a new leader will have a significant impact on the team.

Changes in the organizational policies stem down from top to bottom and impact all stakeholders of the business. Recruitment of new employees may also lead to change which needs to be managed. Introduction of new technology or machinery in the business will also drive change in the business (Matos & Esposito, 2014). It requires training and guidance in order to make organizational employees and clients get used to the new technology and accept in completely. This requires effective change management from the top leaders of the organization.

External

There are several external factors too which are not in the control of the organization. These factors can also drive organizational change. The political, legal and social scenario of the country of operation has a direct impact on the business. Change is laws or a change in government calls for change management measures by the organization. Similarly, economic change in the country like change in rate of inflation, unemployment or interest will also impact all business stakeholders. Interest rate will impact organizational finances, inflation will impact organizational costs while unemployment is directly related to recruitment costs and other human resource management aspects. These external factors must also be managed in an efficient manner.

Change process in the organization is often faced with retaliation or resistance from some stakeholders of the business. There are reasons behind this resistance which are as below:

External factors driving organizational change

Threat of losing power: Organizational employees and stakeholders might feel a threat of losing power on an individual or organizational level. For example managers will resists a shift of power from them to their subordinates.

Comfort: A major factor that creates resistance towards any kind of change is the immense comfort with the status quo (Cummings & Worley, 2014). People often get highly comfortable with the way things are that they fear moving out of their comfort zone and addressing an important change.

Job security: Changes like resizing or mergers may impact job security of employees. When employees anticipate such changes in the workplace then they are more likely to demonstrate a resistance towards change.

Fear of unknown: Most of the times stakeholders associated with the business have a major fear of what is not known. This fear and the lack of risk appetite will also lead to employees depicting a resistance to change (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015).

Lack of trust in leaders: If the change agents and leaders who are taking the change process forward are not trusted by other stakeholders, then these stakeholders will not be able to entirely agree with the change process (Hon et. al., 2014). In order to eradicate this resistance, open communication and clarity of vision by the leaders is very important (Kaufman, 2017).

Limited resources: An organization will resist change if it does not possess enough resources to execute change (Brown & Harvey, 2011).

Despite the resistance shown by organizational employees, there are certain strategies that can be adopted by leaders of the business in order to ensure a smooth execution of the change process. These strategies are as below:

Clear vision: First and foremost it is imperative that the change agents and the leaders of the organization have immense clarity regarding the vision of the change (Burke & Noumair, 2015). This helps in paving a way towards the change and making sure that stakeholders of the change trust this process and these leaders. Clarity towards a long term vision as well as short term goals is an absolute must so that change can be executed in a competent manner.

Communication: The role of communication in the entire change process cannot be stressed enough. The communication between the leaders and all the concerned stakeholders must be very transparent. People should be encouraged to raise their concerns and inhibitions honestly so that these issues can be addressed. Leaders must also use communication as a tool to motivate the team so that they can effectively participate in the change process.

Propose incentives: Incentives and rewards should be offered to employees who participate and actively contribute to the change management process of the organization (Anitha, 2014). This would help in motivating employees in giving their best towards conducting an important change in the business.

Recruiting change agents: For every change management process, certain employees from the business must be shortlisted as leaders of change or change management agents. These leaders must be bestowed upon with the responsibility of ensuring a smooth transition of the organizational processes throughout the entire change process (Jones & Jones, 2013). These leaders should be able to be trusted by stakeholders in order to build trust.

Common causes of resistance to change

Never give up: The key to an effective change process is to never give up. The organization would face several failures and problems but it is important to not give up in the process till the final goal in achieved. For example, while introducing a new technology in the organization, it is plausible that employees will express some resistance or there might be failures in technology itself or business stakeholders may completely reject the idea. Either way, it is important for the organization to continue to trying and never give up till the vision is fulfilled.

For successful change management in the business, it is also important to create a culture that is open and accepting to change. This would ensure that if the need for change arises, then stakeholders can effectively collaborate and execute the change efficiently.

Leadership transformational: Leadership in any organization plays a significant role in its change management process. The leaders are highly responsible for creating a culture which can effectively bring about change and be more accepting towards the idea of change. Transformational leaders in organization identify a problem and work towards changing it (Wang et. al., 2011). Secondly, if the employees of the organization trust the leaders then the resistance towards change would be relatively lower (Braun et. al., 2013).

Communication: A culture of open communication that can create transparency and trust and go a long way in ensuring the presence of a culture which does not resist change. Communication helps in creating a certain level of openness that makes people comfortable. Hence leaders must put efforts towards creating an atmosphere of open communication wherein stakeholders associated with the change can raise their concerns and issues in a transparent manner (Hackman & Johnson, 2013).

Be prepared: Very often organizations may have to undergo a process owing to external factors which are not in the business’s control. For example if there is a sudden rise in inflation or there is political unrest, the businesses within the country would have to undergo change. Hence an important strategy to address this change is to be prepared. This includes having sufficient financial, technological and human resources as well as having a team which is mentally prepared to undergo change without resistance.

Change management is important for the success of any organization. The above mentioned strategies are the efforts that the organizational leaders can put in order to instil a culture of change. However, every individual within the business must take efforts in managing change in an effective manner and actively participating in the change process with a clear aim in mind (Doppelt, 2017). Such collaborative efforts would lead to consistent improvement as well as organizational growth.

References

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Anitha, J. (2014). Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee performance. International journal of productivity and performance management, 63(3), 308.

Braun, S., Peus, C., Weisweiler, S., & Frey, D. (2013). Transformational leadership, job satisfaction, and team performance: A multilevel mediation model of trust. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(1), 270-283.

Brown, D. R., & Harvey, D. F. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development. Cengage Learning. United States.

Burke, W. W., & Noumair, D. A. (2015). Organization Development (Paperback): A Process of Learning and Changing. FT Press.

Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2015). Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers. United Kingdom.

Carnall, C. (2018). Managing change. Routledge. United Kingdom.

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Doppelt, B. (2017). Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for business, government and civil society. Routledge.

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Wang, G., Oh, I. S., Courtright, S. H., & Colbert, A. E. (2011). Transformational leadership and performance across criteria and levels: A meta-analytic review of 25 years of research. Group & Organization Management, 36(2), 223-270.