Introduction
In a previous blog, “Why do People Resist Change?” we introduced Claverton’s model for
successfully combatting resistance to change when performing a business transformation. In this blog, we explore in more depth why people resist transformational change and some of the strategies that can be employed to navigate your way through it.
“Why do People Resist Change?” makes it clear that fear is the key driver of change resistance. Now, let’s examine why people may be fearful of change:
Loss: Of Control: Change interferes with autonomy and can make people feel that they are losing control or influence over their territory. It's not just political, as in who has the power; our sense of self-determination is often the first thing to go when faced with a potential change coming from someone else. Smart transformation leaders leave room for those affected by change to make choices. They invite those affected to participate in visioning, strategy determination and planning but, crucially, assign clear ownership for the results.
The Past: The spectres of the past are always lying in wait to haunt us. Whilst life is steady state, they remain out of sight, however, as soon as you need cooperation for something new or different, old ghosts emerge through the walls. Wounds reopen, historic resentments are remembered and simmering arguments bubble back to the top of people’s consciousness. Leaders must consider gestures to heal the past before sailing into the future.
Change Fatigue: Perhaps there has been too much change and constant long hours running the business in addition to continual effort needed to implement “another change”. As a result, the team are just long-term overworked (or perceive they are). They are fearful of yet more change, thinking “how are we going to cope”, fearing burn-out, losing valuable team members, and so on. Leaders should recognise the effort it takes to change by creating capacity, so that key people can focus on it exclusively. Additionally, leaders should offer extra incentives for participants and their families, that latter of whom regularly make sacrifices which benefit your success.
No Change Capacity: Previous ‘transformations’ have left the organisation with barely enough resource to run BAU, making absorbing change nearly impossible. Managers are afraid that they will fail to execute their current responsibilities, placing themselves at risk, should they agree to take on additional change initiatives.
Loss: Of Face: By definition, change is a departure from current practices and behaviours. Transformational change is a response to an evident burning platform – things must change, or the consequences will be unacceptable. By implication therefore, everyone who built and run current practices may perceive themselves to have done something which doesn’t work and will, not surprisingly, be defensive about it. When change involves a big shift of strategic direction, the people responsible for the previous direction defend themselves against the perception that they must have been wrong. Leaders can help by embracing the past as successful of its time, before making it clear that the world has changed. Ensuring those responsible for past change are engaged shaping the future, clearly giving them ownership of the next stage in the evolution of the business, makes it easier for them to accept change and move on.
Lack of Trust: There are redundancies just around the corner aren’t there? This change isn’t necessary, you’re only doing it to make an impact and further your career! You are just plain WRONG! All of these are responses which suggest there is a lack of trust between those leading transformational change and those affected……and all can be valid concerns. Trust is essential to a successful transformation (many such programmes fail to establish trust and are littered with delays, cost overruns, dysfunctional behaviours and so on) and change leaders must take time to build it, and be seen to act upon valid concerns, even if that is to provide clear, honest answers that some people may not like.
Uncertainty: If change feels like walking off a cliff blindfolded, then people will reject it. Some will prefer to remain immersed in despair than to embark upon a journey into the unknown. Others are simply worried about whether they can carry off a new role in a transformed world and would prefer, "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't." Uncertainty can create inertia, leaving everyone looking at everyone else for decisions. To help combat this, transformation leaders must demonstrate a clarity of vision and purpose, whilst reassuring people that they can safely move forwards.
Confusion: Change is meant to bring something different, but how different? Human beings are creatures of habit, so change disrupts the working practices we have accepted as automatic, making us uncomfortable and, from there, confusion reigns supreme. Transformation leaders need to retain a sense of familiarity – clearly articulating the transformation need from today’s baseline, laying out the important steps required to arrive successfully at the destination. Applying the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle to transformation messages will reduce confusion and create focus on what’s important.
My Sense of Self: where individuals feel a transformation will devalue them or their skills, making their job is less relevant or less interesting, their sense of self-worth can be eroded. With that comes a sense of hopelessness – “why bother trying if I’m going to be far worse off afterwards?”. We refer to some ways to tackle this in our blog “Incentivising Transformation”, but key to managing individual challenges like this is to plot a specific approach for an affected group or person.
Frame of Reference: people need clear reference points, in terms of vision leadership, if they are to come along on the journey. Three specific areas of change resistance might stem from:
• Role Models: people often cannot see the leader(s) as a frame of reference for the transformation, i.e. they don’t see executives leading the change who have really been over the transformation course before and doubt whether they are really role models for what the new world will represent. To help the credibility of a leader who finds him/herself in this situation, a common solution is to hire a professional transformation director to work alongside them, which will add the knowledge and experience required
• Operating Practices: people cannot understand the change in terms of the difference it will make to business operations and why those changes will result in value for the organisation
• What Does Good Look Like? people cannot understand the VISION. It might be too complex, perceived as unattainable or fuzzy thinking. Communicating a clear transformation road map will help to alleviate these fears.
Shock & Surprise: Decisions imposed on people suddenly, with no time to get used to the idea or prepare for the consequences, are generally resisted. It is easier to say No than to say Yes. Leaders should avoid the temptation to craft changes in secret and then ‘tell’ people about them as a fait accomplis. Rather, it is better to engage and sell.
Perception Creep. Like tossing a pebble into a pond, change creates ripples, reaching distant spots in ever-widening circles. These ripples disrupt other departments, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders who are potentiallyimpacted, and they start to push back, rebelling against changes they had nothing to do with that interfere with their own activities. Leaders must engage the full circle of stakeholders and work with them to minimize disruption.
Ultimately, change is resisted because it creates fear and it is painful. When new technologies displace old ones, jobs can be lost. Relationships which have taken years to develop can be affected. Investments which remain on the books can be wiped out. Transformation leaders must recognise that their changes may pose a significant and painful threat, so they must be honest, open, transparent, considerate and fair.
Successful Transformational Change Involves a Balancing Act
There are many dynamics which affect an organisation’s ability to change effectively. The ‘change balancing act’ describes some of the elements which you need to recognise and control to deliver a successful transformation.
Clarity, Simplicity, Value: start with a crystal clear vision which is simple and demonstrates value to the business – which people can understand and, even if they don’t like it, they can appreciate why you are doing it
Emphasise the Opportunity: not just for the business, but for the individuals. Creating opportunities for the future leaders to step up into will empower those who wish to to progress their careers, using transformation as the vehicle
Show Courage & Conviction: any sign of weakness will be leapt upon by the doubters and naysayers – be courageous and display absolute conviction that this is not only the right thing to do, but the only thing to do
Engage Your “Future” Leaders: you will know that there are certain people that you cannot successfully undertake the change without. Even if they are amongst the doubters and naysayers, better to have them inside the tent than out. Better still, give them ownership for realising a component of the vision and watch them step up.
Honesty: people undergoing change will only trust you and work to help you if you can build a level of trust with them. To do so, you need to be as honest as possible. One important thing to say is “I don’t know”. You can’t possibly know everything that will happen when you embark upon a business transformation, but people will expect you to have all the answers. Helping people understand that you don’t know all the answers and you will call upon them to help figure things out is a great way of displaying honesty and encouraging participation
Transparency: executives who are new to an organisation often change things just to be seen to make a mark. People are usually wise to this, so you need a compelling burning platform for change, and that platform needs to be articulated along with the consequences of doing nothing. Providing transparency that you are changing for the right reasons will generate buy-in and recognition of the need for change
Emphasise Past Success: many staff will automatically take the need to change as implicit criticism of past efforts. Not everything they have been doing has been wrong, dysfunctional or behind the market so make sure that you demonstrate the you value some of the successes of the past and articulate how they already for a strong, stable platform for change
Incentivise Success: even when staff will be leaving you may need them to perform (or over-perform) in order to make the change a success; a clear incentives package will let people leave with dignity, a reward for personal and team performance, and great things to say about your company and you
Energise: any change needs to build up a shared sense of purpose, a sense of urgency and galvanise people to actively drive and work on it. A kick-off event is simply not enough – you must continually engage in workshops, communications, town hall presentations, open conference calls which update staff, publish frequently asked questions and establish an intranet set which provides information to staff about the transformation as it progresses.
Conclusion
Transformational change can be complex, confusing and threatening for the people affected, but successfully balancing people’s fears with impactful change management techniques will result in successful transformation outcomes.
It is often said that the only thing that is constant is change. Whilst a little glib, there is an element of truth in this. Your market will change, the COVID-19 pandemic is an extreme example of that and one which would have been exceedingly difficult for some businesses to plan for and mitigate effectively. However, how businesses are able to adapt to the huge changes that this has caused will decide whether they survive at all.
In recent years we have seen significant changes to value propositions, digital/online, cloud, SAAS etc. Companies which have not embraced these changes, on the whole, no longer exist or are, at least, struggling to maintain their market position. Whilst the decision to undertake a major transformation may appear to some as cruel to many of the employees directly affected by the change, the decision to leave things as they are is likely to result in a significantly more unfavourable outcome to many of the same staff.
To discuss any of the points covered in this blog in more detail, please contact us at info@clavertonconsulting.co.uk or call us on 0117 325 7890.