Resistance to change is a common human reaction and attitude in any organization. Often, employees are comfortable with their routines and any disruption can generate uncertainty and fear. Ignoring this resistance can have negative consequences, such as decreased productivity and increased absenteeism.

One of the first reactions we humans have when we hear the term resistance is to become defensive, to believe that those who are resistant to change are bad and that we should “exile” them from our work environment because they are harmful. This is a common mistake and in this blog I am going to expose the causes of resistance and some proposals to manage it correctly.

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How is resistance generated in our work environment?

Resistance to change can arise for several reasons:

Fear of the Unknown: people may fear losing their status, skills or even their job.

Lack of Trust: If people do not trust the management or the change process, they are likely to resist..

Loss of Control: Changes can make people feel that they are losing control over their work.

Poor communication: Lack of clear and timely information can increase uncertainty and resistance.

Customs and Habits: People tend to cling to the usual and may resist changing their daily routines.

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Negative effects of resistance

Resistance to change can have several negative effects on an organization, here are a few examples.

Reduced Productivity: People who resist change tend to show a decrease in their performance, as their fears and worries distract them..

Increased absenteeism: Resistance can lead to an increase in absenteeism, since the fact of not feeling comfortable with the new situation generates an aversion to wanting to be in the place where the change is being generated.

Toxic Work Environment: Resistance can create a negative work environment, affecting morale and collaboration.

Failure to Implement Change: Resistance can cause change projects to fail to achieve their objectives.

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Importance of addressing resistance
Ignoring resistance to change, or thinking that it is a mistake, is not a viable option. According to a Prosci study, 76% of change initiatives encounter resistance at some level. Another important figure to consider is that more than 70% of organizational changes fail to achieve their objectives due to lack of attention to the human dimension of change. Addressing resistance effectively is crucial to the success of any change initiative.

Staff members who resist are not a bad element for the organization, in fact, they could be an invaluable source of improvements to our change initiatives. There are people who resist within our organizations, simply because they have another vision, another way of thinking and other needs. Understanding the cause of resistance will indeed be the first step to solving and building the trust necessary to mitigate its effects.

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10 Effective techniques to treat resistance

1. Listen and understand objections: It is essential to actively listen to people to understand their concerns and objections..
2. Focus on the “What” and Let Go of the “How”: Allowing people to participate in the change process will increase their commitment, as they will feel ownership of the initiative.
3. Removing barriers: Identifying and removing barriers to change adoption, lack of awareness and desire to participate, lack of knowledge and skills to change, and lack of constant reinforcement in recognition of change agents (ADKAR) are key factors in removing resistance.
4. Provide clear options and consequences: Offering clear options and explaining the consequences of not adopting change, through examples and experiences, will help resistant people understand what the benefits of change are and the risks of not doing so.
5. Create hope: Showing people how change can improve their current situation and what the future situation of the individual and the organization will be, will motivate them to believe in and embrace change.
6. Show tangible benefits: Present the benefits of the change in a clear and tangible way, through the design of new processes or technologies, new procedures and daily life, expressing sincerely and truthfully what the future advantages of the change will be.
7. Make a personal appeal: Appeal to the personal values and needs of the collaborators, so that they feel part of the change, by listening to their needs, their concerns, their fears and their contributions, and incorporate those that contribute to the change and keep a record of those ideas that cannot yet be implemented.
8. Convert the strongest detractors: Work directly with the most resistant employees to turn them into advocates of change, through active listening and motivating them to contribute to the change. The worst enemy, when he understands the reasons and understands that he is in the wrong situation, often becomes the best ally.
9. Demonstrate consequences: When there are attitudinal positions that, despite having worked on demonstrating the benefits and risks of not accepting the change, do not allow progress, it is necessary to decide: will that person have a viable future in our organization? No change has a 100% satisfaction rate, it is necessary to minimize the loss of people when this situation arises, but it is also impossible for a minority to stop the benefit of the majority. Sometimes it is necessary to comment up front to a resistant, that if there is no way to convince him or her that change is best for everyone, it is probably time to let him or her leave.
10. Provide incentives: Offer incentives (not necessarily financial) to motivate people to adopt the change. A social recognition through a public congratulation, a place for a training that contributes to their resume, and sometimes even an additional day off for their help in managing change, are incentives that generate motivation to continue supporting organizational change.

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Success stories

A study by the University of Palermo revealed that approximately 70% of organizational change programs fail to achieve their objectives due to lack of leadership commitment and support. However, companies that have implemented orderly change management methodologies (such as PROSCI) have seen significant improvements in the adoption of these initiatives.

This study also revealed that 83% of companies that chose to apply appropriate resistance management techniques were able to increase adoption of change by 72% by applying these techniques and working directly with the most resistant employees and decreased their employee turnover by almost 10% of their annual baseline. Savings in training programs and training time to cover the learning curve amounted to almost USD 23 million (an average of almost USD 72 thousand per company per year).

Resistance to change is a common challenge that is not easy to face but is manageable when the right techniques are used. Applying orderly methodological strategies will help organizations overcome resistance and achieve successful change implementation.

Addressing resistance proactively and empathetically not only improves change adoption, but also strengthens organizational culture and increases productivity, but above all, helps us to have the highest probability of retaining an organization’s most valuable asset: its people.

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