Is it useful to label change as positive or negative?

You may have been asked to rate change into either a positive or negative change to classify initiatives and thereby use the classification to aid change implementation. After all, we all know of initiatives that nearly everyone sees as negative and other initiatives where it’s going to make people’s lives easier, and therefore viewed as mostly positive. So, is it useful to classify every initiative as either positive or negative? Let’s examine this closely.

What is the usefulness of classifying change into either positive or negative?

Some managers believe that if we are able to classify change as either positive or negative then we are able to focus on those changes that are perceived as negative since they may require significant managerial effort to drive through the change. Also, negative changes may face more resistance. Therefore, knowing this helps to plan for change implementation.

Negative changes could include significant restructures where employees are losing their jobs, and where there are significant cost-cutting outcomes targeted. On the other hand, a positive change could be a process improvement where the new process makes work easier for impacted employees, requiring less approval and less paperwork. 

However, there are many issues with this assumption. Let’s break things down….

Differences in individual perception

Every individual has a different perception of the same change initiative. After all, we are all individuals with different upbringings, personalities, life experiences, and preferences. In a major restructuring, whilst most impacted employees losing their jobs may see this as negative, there could be those who are eager to receive the redundancy payout, possessing long tenure at the company. Others may initiative find the change negative, however found that this was a great opportunity to launch a career they had always wanted.

On the other hand, even for a seemingly positive change that could make most employee’s lives easier, not everyone may see it that way. There are always some that simply do not like changes at all. It could be that they are so used to the old ways of working that any change and adjustment would be perceived as negative.

Different perceptions in stakeholder groups

It is also important to note that not every stakeholder group would perceive the same initiative in the same way. It depends on various factors. For example....

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