Organizational changes are activities of transformation or modification of something. The main purpose of these types of activities is improvement of business results. Nobody would like to have changes if with that change situation will become worse or will be no improvements. Organization is interactive with its environment, changes in environment affect the organization, and the organization needs to adapt to that change. Organizational changes are activity of differentiate or modification with aim to improve overall business processes of organization and to perform adopting of organization with change in environment.
Organizational changes are not simply the journey from point A to point B. Many barriers will need to be passed in this process. One of the biggest barriers is resistance that is sub-component on every organizational change. Managers should have known that there are always people that will resist of a change process. Efficiency and effectiveness of a change process are in direct relation with resistance and successfully dealing with that resistance.
In every organization, there are four types of people accordingly to their response to change:
- People that are initiators of changes.
- People that accept changes.
- People that are indifferent towards changes.
- People that not accept changes.
People not belong to one category. It is more likely that they resist to some changes, and again accept or initiate other changes.
Factors That Causes Resistance to Organizational Change
I’ve been conducted analysis of 18 different literature sourcesthat showed many factors that cause resistance to organizational change. After analysis of the literature, I select those factors that are most cited by different authors:
- Threat of power on an individual level. Managers resist change that decreases their power and transfer that power to their subordinates;
- Threat of power on an organizational level. With organizational change some groups, departments or sectors in organization become more powerful, it affects appearing resistance to change of those that lose some part of that power;
- Losing the control by employees. Organizational change can make a decrease level of control that needs to conduct managers, and it affects appearing resistance to change of those that has taken common law on control;
- Increasing the control of employees. Organizational change can increase control of employees, and it affectsappearing resistance to change;
- Economic factors. Organizational change may see in an eye of employees simply as decreasing or increasing of payment and others economic privileges that bring some workplace. This will influence on appearing resistance of those that will be covered with this change;
- Image, prestige and reputation. Every workplace brings adequate image, prestige and reputation that are important to every employee. Organizational changes shift this convenience of employees. This will influence on appearing resistance of those that will be covered with this change;
- Threat of comfort. Organizational change results to personal discomfort and make employee life more difficult. They represent transfer of comfort of status quo to discomfort to new situation. Employees have skills to do an old job without some especially attention to accomplish that job. Every new job requires forgetfulness on old methods of doing a job and learning new one that lead to dissipation on energy, and it affects on appearing resistance to change;
- Job’s security. Organizational change may eliminate some work places, may produce technological excess, layoffs and so on. Job’s security has influence on appearing resistance of those that will be covered with this change;
- Reallocation of resources. With organizational change some groups, department or sector in organization obtains more resources on damage on others; it affects on appearing resistance on those who are devoid resources;
- Acquired interest of some groups. Organizational change can make new groups more significant of success, and it represents a threat on old coalition that will influence on appearing resistance on those groups that arise more insignificant;
- Implication on personal plans. Organizational change can stop other plans, projects or other personal or family activities that again this lead to appearing resistance to change of those that will be covered with this change;
- Too much dependence of others. In an organization may exist employees that are too much depended of others. This dependence is based on defense of powerful individuals. If the changes represent threat of that defense it will affect on appearing resistance to change of those that will be covered with this change;
- Misunderstanding of changes. Peoples resist change when they not understand purposes of change. When employees not understand change they assume something bad and that lead to appearing resistance to organizational change;
- Mistrust to initiators of change. When employees do not have trust to initiators of organizational change, every change will accept negatively and will affect on appearing resistance;
- Different evaluation and perception. Different evaluation and perception effect on organizational changes to employees that consider changes as a bad idea. Because of that they are resistant to that changes
- Fear of unknown. Organizational change lead to uncertainty and some dose of fear. It is normal people to feeling fear of uncertainty. When employees feeling uncertainty of a process of transformation, they think that changes are something danger. This uncertainty affects it to organizational member resist change;
- Habits. Employees work is based on habits, and work tasks perform in certain way. Organizational changes require shifts of that habits that affect appearing resistance;
- Experience of organizational change. All employees already have some experience of previous organizational change and known that this process is not easy. Experience indicates that more programs of organizational change have been unsuccessful, and it affects appearing resistance to organizational change;
- Threat to interpersonal relations. Employees are often mutually friends that have strong social and interpersonal relationship. If an organizational change represents as threat this strength social networks in an organization, the affected employees often resist to that change;
- Weakness of the proposed changes. Sometimes proposed change might have weakness that employees can recognize. This has an effect to that employees resist change and to require surpass of weaknesses yet before beginning on implementation;
- Limited resources. A normal problem in every organization is limited resources. When resources are limited and with organizational change that resources are threatened resistance to change is likely;
- Bureaucratic inertia. Every organization has built mechanisms across rules, policies, and procedures. Even though individuals want to change their behavior these mechanisms can resist to that change;
- Selective information processing. Individuals usually doing selective information processing, or hear that they want to hear. They simply ignore information that is opposite of current situation, and with this, they are preventing to accept important aspects of proposed changes, and it affects appearing resistance to organizational change;
- Uninformed. Often employees are not provided with adequate information aboutorganizational change that mustimplement. This can affect on appearing resistance to that change;
- Peer pressure. We often are exerting informal punishment on colleagues that supports change that others not support. This can affect on appearing and increasing resistance to change;
- Skepticism about the need of change. If the problem is not personal thing of employees, they do not see the need have changed. Those that not can to see the need of change shows low readiness to change;
- Increasing workload. In the process of organizational change employees barring with normal work activities will be loaded with activities of a change process. These increasing workloads, has effect on appearing resistance to change;
- Short time to performing change. Because organizational systems are open systems and are interactive with their environment, the need of change often comes from outside and performing rates are dictating from exterior of an organization. These situations to have short time to performing organizational change that has influence on appearing resistance to change.
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