Individual Change Resistance

INDIVIDUAL CHANGE RESISTANCE
Most people don’t enjoy change. The status quo tends to be more convenient and comfortable, so
our resistance to a new process, strategy or organizational structure (no matter how logical or
promising) is almost inevitable. Part of our human nature involves us being very sensitive to certain
kinds of perceived threats in our social environment, which by extension includes our
workplace. Harvard Business Review outlines ten reasons why individuals tend to resist change:
1. Loss of control, especially over processes that have been built up over time.
2. Excess uncertainty, which we seek to avoid at all costs.
3. Surprise changes with little to no room for mental preparation.
4. Changes to everyday work habits and routines.
5. Loss of face, particularly for those who have built their reputation on the status quo.
6. Concerns about competence as it relates to the new environment.
7. More work, especially in the transition period.
8. Ripple effects, as the change begins to affect other departments and even customers.
9. Past resentments that can spring up against the person responsible for or affecting the
change.
10. True risks, to both your team’s happiness and livelihood.
Addressing these perceived threats at both an individual, as well as the team and organizational
levels, is key to successful change management.
2) LACK OF COMMUNICATION
At its core, successful organizational change is really a successful communication exercise. In

fact, one study found that the single biggest reason for organizational failure to successfully
implement any kind of change is “clear and frequent communication.” When combined with your
team’s natural resistance for change outlined above, this barrier ma kes sense. In fact, every single
one of the 10 reasons for individual change resistance can least be partially mitigated through
intentional and proactive communication.
Communication should take center stage in both the planning and implementation phases of change
management. Whenever a project or new direction is planned, communication should
begin before its actual implementation or execution. Set clear expectations, communicate potential
timelines, and report organizational progress to plan at regular intervals. During unplanned or crisis-
driven change, keeping everyone on the same page is just as critical. In a recent article, the Harvard
Business Review outlined additional strategies to communicate effectively during times of intense
organizational change.
3) LACK OF STRATEGIC DIRECTION
Communication is key but will be unsuccessful if it lacks direction or a cohesive message. From the
moment you begin to plan or implement any type of organizational change, first clarify your
objectives. Think of your objectives as the roadmap that will guide you to your intended
destination. Ideally, your change management strategy should include the following five compon ents:
1. An overarching goal or intended outcome of the process.

2. Clear, measurable objectives related to the overall outcome.
3. An estimated timeline of achieving your objectives.
4. Regular benchmarks or check-ins to evaluate your progress toward goal.
5. An outline of strategic communication to keep everyone involved on the same page.
With the right strategy, you will improve your chances of getting buy in so staff are more likely to take
a productive vs. disruptive role in the change process.
4) LACK OF CONSISTENCY
We all experience it, and we can all become frustrated by it. Cognitive dissonance describes what
happens when your ideas, beliefs, or behaviors contradict each other. You see an ad, but the product
doesn’t deliver on its promises. You experience one of your role models commit an unethical act. You
hear great things about organizational change, but all you can see is the increased workload it will
bring you for the next six months.
During organizational change or transition, some cognitive dissonance is inevitable. Your
team will experience an initial increase in their workload and painfully discover many ways in which
the new way of doing things (such as a new business software platform) is actually more time
consuming or initially cumbersome than the old one. If the gap between the perceived benefits of the
change and the real work it will take to accomplish change is too long or too great, progress stalls and
problems can arise.
Observing positive benefits that were promised actually materialize helps to generate buy -in on and
maintain energy for change on behalf of your employees. That’s why planning so you can achieve a
few early “wins” and then reinforce them frequently through communication, is so important to a
successful change process.
Encourage your implementation team to speak out. Left alone, contradictions between hoped for
benefits and lived reality will fester and cause resentment, which in turn will undermine the change.
Then, align your communication with expectations to make sure that people experience as much
consistency between their expectations and actual outcomes as possible.
5) CULTURAL BARRIERS
As soon as a project involves or affects multiple people from diverse groups, cultural barriers can
emerge. For example, if your organization is geographically dispersed, it is likely that people working
in different regions will disagree not only on the impact of the change itself, but also regarding the
“right” way to go about implementing it. The often-cited 6-D Model of National Cultures by Gert
Hofstede offers some insight into ways in which people in from various cultures may differ in how
they perceive the world and approach their work. Various sub-cultures within your organization can
have similar effects on whether or not your change management process will be successful.
Overcoming cultural barriers to change management requires an in -depth understanding of
who all the stakeholders in a change process are and what they care most about. Frequent
communication, proportional representation within your implementation team, and upward fe edback
channels are key to managing change in a way that integrates instead of alienating diverse groups of
stakeholders within your organization.

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INDIVIDUAL CHANGE RESISTANCE

At its core, successful organizational change is really a successful communication exercise. In

3) LACK OF STRATEGIC DIRECTION

1. An overarching goal or intended outcome of the process.

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