Change management depends heavily on how quickly individuals perceive benefits from the change. Resistance often arises when trust is lacking, communication is unclear, or personal impact is not adequately addressed.
Key Insights
- Lack of trust in leadership or the organization prior to a change significantly increases resistance, as individuals doubt the motives and effectiveness of the change strategy.
- Emotional reactions such as fear, skepticism, and reduced self-confidence often emerge when individuals face unexpected changes or feel uncertain about their future roles.
- Employees are more likely to resist change when they perceive a loss of influence, lack of personal benefit, or insufficient communication about the urgency and purpose of the change.
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I can tell you from my own experience that my ability to move on really hinges on factors that influence the reality of the impact on me. What does that mean? It means that the quicker I can see the benefit, the faster I move through the change curve.
The longer it takes me to see benefit, the longer it takes me to move through the change curve. So let's move on and continue that discussion in terms of what some of the things are that actually cause resistance to change. And I think you'll recognize these as we talk through those.
10 Root Causes of Resistance to Change
This information comes from an article by Dr. Surat Tatli, and he considers these 10 root causes as resistance to change factors. Let's take a look at them.
1. Lack of Trust in the Leader or the Organization
The first one, the lack of trust in the leader or the organization as a whole. Okay, let's talk about that for a moment. If I've trusted my leader before the change, or I've had a certain distrust about the organization's transparency before the change, this is certainly going to affect how I see, hear, and respond to the change that's now before me.
Chances are very high that if I didn't trust the leader, or if I didn't trust the organization prior to this, I'm not going to trust them anymore, and I'm probably not going to trust the reason for the change. So you're going to get some resistance from me on that one.
2. Disliking Surprises
Oh, I might be a person, you might be a person, I just don't like surprises. Where did this come from? What just happened? Whoa, I need to step back for a minute. Yeah, if we don't like to be surprised, then chances are that shock factor, that first piece in the change curve, is probably going to rise straight on up, and we're going to see some defensiveness right away.
3. Low Self-Confidence or Lack of Confidence in Others
The third one is a little bit different. If we don't feel self-confident in our position in an organization, or if we don't have confidence in others around us in the organization, that's going to factor into our willingness to accept change readily.
Our questions are going to be, hold it, I'm not feeling that self-confident now, and now you're changing my footing. I'm feeling very, very shaky in all of this.
If I haven't had confidence in the people around me in the past, this is going to rise up as a question and have an impact on my response as well. I don't believe that you're capable of creating a change strategy that's going to work here. That doubt is going to come right into my mind and affect the way that I see the change.
4. Self-Interest and Shifts in Power and Influence
Self-interest and shifts in power and influence are a little bit different. Hold it, I was on a path to become a team leader and supervisor. You just changed the whole structure here. Whoa, hold on a minute. I'm now reporting to whom?
Well, that doesn't look like it's going to be as beneficial to me as the way it was working on my behalf already. All right, I might lose some power. I might lose some influence. At least that's how I see it as an initial response.
5. Skepticism
Number five, skepticism. You know what? We have been through reorganization, after reorganization, after reorganization, and they never really make anything better. They're just to change because somebody wanted to change. Why is this going to be any different?
6. Lack of Know-How
Lack of know-how. Hold it a second. You're changing the essence of my job. I have to learn new skill sets. I don't even know where to start. A little bit of fear here.
7. Not Convinced the Change Is Necessary
You know what? You haven't convinced me that we need this change. I'm just not convinced that what you're proposing is really going to make a difference here. And I'm not even sure we're doing it for any other reason than somebody just wants to take credit for a change. I'm not convinced yet.
8. Not Seeing the Urgency
You're making this urgent, and I'm not seeing the urgency. We've been doing it this way for at least five years, and now all of a sudden you want us to turn this around on a dime. Why? Why? What just became so urgent that we have to make this happen? I'm not convinced.
9. Doubting Personal Fit or Ability to Succeed
Oh boy. Just when I was starting to feel like I knew what I was doing and where I stood in the organization, I can already see what I'm going to be asked to do next. I am not convinced that this is going to be my wheelhouse.
I'm not convinced that I can rise up, learn, and do as expected. I see why you're talking about this change here, but you know what? You didn't answer a key question for me. You didn't answer the question.
10. Not Knowing What Is in It for Me
What's in it for me personally? So if I support this change, if I embrace this change, if I help energize this change, is there going to be anything in it for me, or is it just the same old, same old status quo? Not feeling it.
Resistance to Change Is a Natural Human Response
As I describe these 10 root causes of resistance to change, you may have experienced at least some of those and I am sure that you've seen others react to these causes of resistance. Why? Because they are typical.
Our research keeps telling us over and over and over again that resistance to change is a natural human phenomenon.
