The Key to Unlocking Employee Resistance to Change

What is resistance? I'm sure there are many interpretations of this term, however according to Webster, resistance is:

• The ability of an organism to ward off disease.
• A force that retards, hinders, or opposes motion.
• The active psychological opposition to the bringing of unconscious, usually repressed, material to consciousness.

Employee resistance isn't something you can avoid nor stop from happening. It goes hand in hand with any complex change effort. The only option we're left with is becoming experts in dealing with it. This way, we will be able to transform resistance into a positive force that can act as a stepping stone for your change efforts. But what's the purpose of this resistance?

• It tests the commitment of the change leaders. Employees want to know if they truly are serious about it or not.
• It offers you to have a look at your change efforts from different perspectives, which often tend to hold some value. When taken into account, the resistor's viewpoints could actually help your change efforts to succeed.
• It can serve as a funnel, filtering out the not so well thought out ideas - or at least bring to light some flaws in these ideas.
• It can buy you some time by slowing down the pace of change, which could help you and your organization to put in place a proper infrastructure for your organization to accept and adopt the post-change reality. It can also serve as platform for people's emotions/feelings during a stressful time to be expressed in a safe way rather than letting it build up without reason the extreme levels.

Now that we know that resistance is a phenomenon we most likely won't avoid from occurring, how can we guide our people through times of change?

1. Allow your employees to participate in the change process. Employees People generally aren't against change as much as they're against being changed. Usually there is a time gap between the discussions on the management level and the time when the employees are informed, which often tends to lead to employees undermining the future success of these changes and creates negative internal communication. One shouldn't forget that formal communication channels are as important as the informal ones.
2. Talk to you employees about their feelings/views about the change. Whenever managing change, ti is important that leaders take time to understand the views and sentiment employees express regarding the change. You need to first understand the views of your employees before you are able to properly address them.
3. Focus on effective delegating. It isn't uncommon for managers to start policing their employees instead of delegating and empowering them to become agents of change. Don't try to do everything on your own, you most likely will fail with this approach. Instead, focus on effective delegation already during the early stages of the change. Not only will it help you manage your workload, it will also give your employees a feeling of involvement and inclusion in the change process.
4. Increase the bar of expectations. There's never a better time to ask more from people than during times of change, when employees tend to alter their working habits to adapt to the changes. Use this time to reach out to your employees to not only work harder, but work smarter while still keeping their performance objectives SMART.
5. Urge your employees to be committed. It is vital to the success of your change efforts to personally talk to your employees and ask them for their commitment to the cause, that being the change initiative. Make sure to encourage them voice their opinions, including the negative ones, in case of any problems.
6. Develop a change communication ecosystem. When implementing a change program, standard communication channels are usually not sufficient to the needs of your change efforts. Embrace this hunger for information but expanding your communication channels and leveling up your communication. Don't forget to ask your employees about input, while remaining visible and approachable. Also, don't forget to be an active listener. Share information on a regular basis and be specific in order to clear up any rumors or misinformation.
7. Adopt a learning mindset & be agile. Keep in mind the bigger picture and don't give up half way, just because of few negative comments. Not only does this ruin your credibility, you're also letting employees know that if they manage to be stubborn and resist the change it will eventually pass by. State your vision, embrace every situation as a learning moment and remain flexible in order to adapt to a wide range of situations. Don't be afraid to be agile. Agile ways of working happen in the moment and don’t always allow for advance planning. They will help you with work that’s unpredictable.
8. Lead by example. Your stance as a leader will influence the type of attitude exhibited by your employees. Change can be difficult and stressful. This is your chance to practice your motivational skills, not only by embracing an optimistic stance, but also by going the extra mile to reward and recognize your employees for their extra effort contributing to the change process. You can even promote the change as a professional and personal challenge that you can face as a team together and achieve it successfully!

Okay, that all seems great, but what about the people who are determined to absolutely oppose any change within the organization with every chance they get? Most of the time, the natural instinct of people is to try to pull them in, hoping that if we spend enough time with this person we will eventually win them over and get them on board with the change.Dr. John Kotter however, argues that the best way to deal with such a person is to get them out of it and keep them out of it. Although most of us wouldn't like to admit that some people are "hopeless", the mischief they can cause during times of significant change is infinite.

What do you think - do you agree with Dr. Kotter that some people really are hopeless or do you believe that everyone can embrace change if given enough of time & resources?