Strategies For Managing Change Flashcards
Strategies for effective change
Change can cause resistance from many stakeholders, especially employees. Employees often resist change because they feel isolated, fear, frustration and uncertainty. Managing change effectively is crucial to overcome this resistance and ensure the change is successful. Possible strategies for managing change fit into two categories: low risk and high risk.
4 low risk strategies
2 way communication
Participation
Support
Negotiation
Two way communication
Being open and honest about the change so that employees fully understand it and its impact can help gain support. Answering questions about the change are also important, the more employees know, the more they will be motivated to help support the change.
Participation
Involving employees in the change process can help get them on board with the change. It is more difficult for them to resist decisions they have been a part of making.
Support
Those that are affected by the change need to be supported through the process. This could be training, counselling, support finding new employment. This helps make the change easier for employees to handle and helps to maintain morale.
Negotiation
Agreements can be struck between management and employees to ensure support for change. Negotiation can empower employees and enhance their support for the change.
3 High risk strategies
Manipulation
Threat
Cooptation
Manipulation
Gaining support from employees by the selective use of facts or deception. High risk as when employees find out about the manipulation, morale and motivation can be significantly decreased leading to possible industrial action and increased staff turnover.
Threat
Forcing employees to embrace the change or receive retribution. Possible threats include retrenchment, loss of promotion, demotion, loss of working conditions. High risk as it can damage relationships with employees thus depressing morale and motivation leading to possible industrial action and increased staff turnover.
Cooptation
Involves the selection of an influential person among the potential resistors to be involved in the development and implementation of the change process. However the role is symbolic and carries very little authority. High risk as it can damage relationships with employees if it is found out that the role was symbolic thus decreasing morale and motivation leading to possible industrial action and increased staff turnover.
Discuss one bene t of adopting a low-risk practice as a strategy for effective change management.
Low-risk strategies generally refer to practices used by management that are less likely to cause anxiety or fear in relation to change. Some examples include using two-way communication to discuss changes and also involving employees in the change. A benefit would be that it builds trust and cohesion between employees and management. Therefore resistance and anxiety from employees are likely to be reduced, which enhances effectiveness of change management.
Evaluate whether low-risk practices are preferable to high-risk practices to achieve effective change.
Low-risk strategies generally refer to practices used by management that are less likely to cause anxiety or fear in relation to change.
A high-risk practice enables for the immediate implementation of change but it can often weaken relationships with employees.
An advantage of low risk practices is that they maintain and at times often even strengthen relationships with employees. Low risk practices involve communication and support, ensuring that employees understand the change process and that they are supported through the process.
Low risk practices of change such as participation can even empower employees significantly improving morale and motivation. Employees who participate in the change management decision making process will be more involved in the business activities thus have greater ownership in its activities and therefore be more motivated to implement the changes productively. It is also harder for employees to resist a decision that they were a part of making.
One significant disadvantage of low risk practices is that they are often very time consuming, it takes time to let employees participate in the decision making process, it also takes time to communicate to them and support them through the change process. If a business needs to implement changes immediately then a low risk practice might not be successful.
High risk practices allow for very quick implementation of change as threats and deception will often lead to employees accepting the changes in a very short time because they were either forced to due to a threat or they were told false information that the changes would result in increased benefits for them. This can however lead to a very low staff satisfaction or even industrial action which can end up making the situation at the business worse and significantly decrease productivity.
Generally, low risk practices are preferable to high risk practices as they maintain and strengthen relationships with employees instead of making them worse. The only time when a high risk practice would be preferable would be in times of significant crisis when changes need to be implemented extremely quickly or the consequences could be devastating.
