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Change the way you think!
UNLESS facilitated, change does not happen. This is especially true of the new crop of `learning' organisations that are vying for a share of the corporate market pie. Ordinarily, companies resort to change management during mergers and acquisitions to ease the transition process. However, unpredictable conditions and other influencing events such as adoption of new HR policies, change in revenue model or change in management also necessitate change management. Of the many benefits that accrue from it, reduced attrition levels, better employee morale and man management are the major paybacks. No matter what, getting people to accept new technology, new bosses, new methodologies etc., is perhaps one of the toughest challenges, next only to winning investor confidence on the stock market! And for a system to remain `alive' and exciting, change is essential.
Symptoms of resistance
Employee resistance: become non-participative, resentful, irate and uncooperative, partisan, and in extreme cases take out rallies against organisational change initiatives.
Resistance from senior management: make day-to-day administration difficult, sabotage or not fulfil duties and responsibilities, indulge in partisan politics and so on.
For a smooth organisational makeover
Assess the extent of the impact (on employees, senior management, work flow and processes, HR policies) of the proposed changes and avoid imposing it.
Forewarned is forearmed, prepare your workforce for the ensuing change. Have news bulletins circulated and updated.
Pace the change in phases, roll it out evenly and make it as unobtrusive as possible.
Have change orientation and management programmes.
Encourage employee participation in the process. Help them voice their concerns. Find ways to alleviate them and boost their confidence and trust in the management.
Identify and isolate troublemakers or those traumatised over the change. Rather than bulldozing the resistors, get them to accept it by helping them deal with it on a personal level through one-on-one counselling.
However, the management should also learn to `listen' to the voices of the employees. Conflict is often conducive to change. It must be willing to re-look or re-assess the process even when it is underway to avoid committing costly mistakes.
However you can always seek external change management agents, if the entire process becomes too unwieldy to handle.
SAMYUKTA KODA
samyukta.hyd@cnkonline.com
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