Change Leadership

BSB20302-7-CL

Resistance to Change

Learning Outcomes
Identify reasons as to why employees would
support to change
Identify signs of resistance to change
Understand reasons for resistance to
change
Recognise the strengths & weaknesses of
various approaches to the management of
resistance to change.
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Support for Change

Possible outcomes that are likely to cause
people to react positively to change:
- Security
- Money
- Authority
- Status/prestige
- Responsibility
- Better working conditions
- Self-satisfaction
- Better personal contacts
- Less time & effort
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Signs of Resistance to Change

Resistance to change is tridimensional:
(a) Affective
- is how a person feels about a change (angry)
(b) Cognitive
- is how a person thinks about a change (Its a crazy
idea)

(c) Behavioral
- is what a person does in the face of a change
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Signs of Resistance to Change

The behavioral response may take many
forms:
(a) Active response
- The symptoms of active resistance are identified as
being critical, finding fault, blaming or accusing,
sabotaging

(b) Passive response

- Agreeing verbally but not following through, failing
to implement change
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Why Do People Resist Change?

Dislike of Change
- it is unwise to assume that dislike of change is an
innate human characteristic.
- individuals vary considerably in their dispositional
resistance to change.
- people that are high on dispositional resistance to
change, which is conceptualised as a stable
personality trait, are less likely to voluntarily
incorporate changes in their lives if still imposed,
negative emotional reactions (anxiety, anger & fear)
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Why Do People Resist Change?

Discomfort with Uncertainty
- individuals tend to vary in terms of how
comfortable we are with ambiguity
- for some, the uncertainty is magnified by a lack of
confidence that they have the skills/capabilities
needed in the post-change situation
- the lack of supporting action is not due to overt
resistance or even apaty; it is due to the lack of a
clear understanding of what such supportive action
would look like.
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Why Do People Resist Change?

Perceived Negative Effect on Interests
- the change might affect their interests, a term
that can cover a wide range of factors including
their authority, status, rewards (including salary),
opportunity to apply expertise, autonomy & security
- people find it easier to be supportive of changes
that they see as not threatening such interests and
may resist those that are seen as damaging to
these interests.

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Why Do People Resist Change?

Attachment to the Established Organisational
Culture/Identity
- beliefs, values, and artifacts

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Why Do People Resist Change?

Perceived Breach of Psychological Contract
- employees form beliefs as to the nature of the
reciprocal relationship between them and their
employer
- a breach or violation of this contract occurs when
employees believe that the employer is no longer
honoring its part of the deal.
- employee & the organisation for which they work
can be seen as involved in a personal compact
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Why Do People Resist Change?

- 3 dimensions of the compact:
(i) formal
(ii) psychological
(iii) social

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Why Do People Resist Change?

Lack of Conviction That Change Is Needed

- people are likely to react negatively to change
when they feel that there is no need for the change

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Why Do People Resist Change?

Lack of Clarity as to What is Expected
- lack of clear information as to the specific
implications at the level of action by individuals.
- the chances increase that employees will fail to
convert a change initiative into supporting action
at their level of the organisation.

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Why Do People Resist Change?

Belief That the Specific Change Being
Proposed Is Inappropriate
- those affected by the change will either think
that it is a good or a bad idea
- this will affect their readiness to change

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Why Do People Resist Change?

Excessive Change
- consists of 2 forms:
(a) occurs when an organisation is pursuing several
change initiatives at once and these are perceived
by people in the organisation as unrelated or, even
worse, in conflict.
(b) occurs where an organisation introduces a
series of changes and people in the organisation
feel that resources are being reassigned to new
initiatives before the earlier ones have been given
sufficient attention for them to be effectively
implemented

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Managing Resistance
(a)A Situational Approach
- Education & Communication
- Participation & Involvement
- Facilitation & Support
- Negotiation & Agreement
- Manipulation & Cooption
- Explicit & Implicit coercion

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Managing Resistance
(b) The Resistance Cycle, aka Let Nature
Take Its Course
- 4 phases in the cycle:
(1) Denial
(2) Resistance
(3) Exploration
(4) Commitment

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(b) The Resistance Cycle, aka Let Nature

Take Its Course
(1) Denial
-

Involves a refusal to recognise the situation being

faced.
May involve outright denial, ignoring what is
happening, not being receptive to new
information, or minimising the necessary change
in action

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(b) The Resistance Cycle, aka Let

Nature Take Its Course
(2) Resistance
- Begins with the recognition that the situation is not
going to go away; the past is mourned, stress levels
rise, and both passive & active forms of resistance
emerge
- Within the Scott & Jaffe model, resistance is a
phase that ends as individuals begin to separate
from the past and become more confident of their
capacity to play a role in the future that they face.
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(b) The Resistance Cycle, aka Let

Nature Take Its Course
(3) Exploration
- Involves reenergising and a preparedness to
explore the possibilities involved in the new
situation.

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(b) The Resistance Cycle, aka Let

Nature Take Its Course
(4) Commitment
- Stage where attention is focused on the new
course of action.

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(b) The Resistance Cycle, aka Let

Nature Take Its Course
Moving through the phases can take several
months and that an individual can become stuck
in a phase
Even if such situations are not the norm, they are
sufficient to indicate that a laissez-faire response by
management is likely to be unwise given that
intervention may at least reduce some of the
negative effects of resistance to change.

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Thought Self-Leadership (TSL)

Is a process of influencing or leading through
the purposeful control of ones thoughts
This approach to the management of change
is based on a series of linked propositions
and the application of associated techniques:
(a) peoples perceptions are a primary determinant of how
they respond to change
(b) TSL can influence these perceptions through the use of
the 3 processes: beliefs and assumptions, self-talk, and
mental imagery
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Thought Self-Leadership (TSL)

Together, these 3 processes contribute to
the creation of habitual ways of thinking
(thought patterns).
Thought patterns that are likely to impact a
persons response to change include
opportunity thinking & obstacle
thinking.

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