Reasons People Resist Organizational Change Paper Example

Introduction

People in an organization may resist changes as a result of various reasons. To start with, change may be resisted where employees fear the loss of status or the security of their jobs in the organization. As a result of various technological or operational changes that may take place in an organization, people may resist change in fear of being replaced in their positions and their roles end up being reduced or eliminated.

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People may also resist change in cases where there are poorly aligned rewarding systems. Employees tend to get motivated by the rewards they receive for having accomplished a particular task. Without these rewards, the employees may not be motivated and thus may result in poor performance in the long term.

Additionally, change may also be resisted where the employees fear that they may fail to deliver to satisfaction. The employees tend to believe the new changes may be beyond their capabilities and thus end up doubting themselves. The employees could also have the fear that they may not be in a position to adapt to the new job requirements.

In other cases, the employees may resist change where the management may adopt procedures in policy implementations that are faulty. The employees may resist the changes because the management introduces changes in a manner that is insensitive. The employees may be in support of the changes that are proposed but may not support the procedure that is taken in order set the changes in place. The management, therefore, has to consult with the employees and come up with a good implementation plan that will ensure that the agreed changes are set in place.

Categories of artifacts

Corporate culture needs to be deciphered through artifacts. These artifacts are the signs and symbols that are observable in the culture of the organization. Artifacts may be viewed as the essence of a corporate culture or as indicators of culture. The four categories of artifacts are organizational stories and legends, language, rituals and ceremonies, and physical structures and symbols.

Organizational stories and legends are an important part as they help in personalizing the culture and also generate emotions which help people remember the lessons from these stories. They have the greatest effect on communicating organizational culture as they describe real people. Rituals and ceremonies are routines of daily organizational life that are programmed in order to dramatize the culture of the organization. The organizational language helps bring a lot to the understanding of the public. This may be related to how the employees describe their customers and how they address their concerns once raised. The physical structures and symbols describe a given set of values which may suggest the emphasis of the organization on teamwork (McShane and Von Glinow, 2013).

Functions of organizational culture and conditions in which organizational culture strength improves organizational performance

• An organizational culture acts as a control system as it influences the decisions and the behaviours of the employees.
• It also serves as a social glue where brings people together and make them feel that they are part of the experience of the organization. This may help attract new employees or even retain the existing lot that is performing well.
• The organizational change also helps in sense-making where mental models are shared and the events and the expectations of the organization are well understood.
• Organizational culture strength may improve organizational change where there exists a positive relationship that is modest between culture strength and success.
• It also improves where there are cultures that are adaptive. This is where the needs of the customers are focused more on the employees.

Strategies for minimizing resistance to change, and debate ways to effectively create a sense of urgency for change

In any organization, change is important to keep it at pace with other organizations and at times to ensure that it stands out over the rest. Some strategies have to be put in place in order to facilitate this. Change in an organization requires the employees to have an urgency for change which may be through informing them about the driving forces that are in the external environment. Putting employees in direct contact with the employees also develops the urgency to change. In order to minimize resistance to change, it is important to communicate to the employees about what they should expect from the effort of change; teaching them skills that are valuable for the future that is desired; involving them in the process of change; helping employees cope with stress that comes as a result of new changes and negotiating trade-offs as a result of change effort to those who will be affected.

References

McShane, S. L., & Von Glinow, M. A. (2013). Organizational behaviour: Emerging knowledge, global reality (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.