Managing Employees Resistance to Change - Literature review Example

Managing Employees Resistance to Change Name Institution Instructor Course Date Managing Employees Resistance to Change Introduction Organizational change is quite common in the contemporary world. Companies embrace change through formation of mergers, introducing new people in management positions, downsizing, layoffs, and introduction of new strategic measures. Change affects individuals working in an organization in many ways such provision of opportunities for growth, costs for introducing new systems, and increase in work performance (Kiefer, 2005). The issue of emotions in change has been in existence for many years, and has been a subject of study in many business-related courses. For organizations to succeed in fulfilling their objectives, it is paramount to embrace the concept of change in the administration of various activities. The need for change in any organization is brought about by individuals who are mainly of the view that performance may be enhanced by initiating change. Change in an organization may be in many forms such as introduction of new systems of administration, laying off some employees, and quite often hiring of more new employees in order to increase productivity. Downsizing is normally associated with reduction of costs incurred in paying employees who may be redundant in an organization (Elias, 2009). Members of an organization are subjected to change through decisions made by the senior management who might not necessarily consult with other managers. The reason for this is that change may at times affect some managers, and hence consulting them is action in futility since they may affected negatively. Many employees, who are affected by change, end up reacting emotionally since they might not have been prepared for change. There have been very few instances where employees embrace change without demonstrating any form of resistance. Effects of change can either be negative or positive and so are the emotions demonstrated by the affected individuals, as it will later be observed in the essay. It is fundamental for the management to understand the emotions demonstrated by employees, as this might help in determining whether the change should be implemented or not. Some emotions like fear and having negative attitude towards change are common among employees in an organization (Mossholder et al., 2000). The concept behind this notion is that employees would rather be content with the circumstances they are in, other than anticipating ambiguous positive outcomes as a result of change. In order to elaborate the issue of change, this paper will research on the emotions demonstrated by employees either before or after change is implemented in an organization. The essay will also illustrate various scholarly studies conducted in the past in relation to both positive and negative emotions, from employees who are affected by change, either directly or indirectly. Overview of Literature Many researchers have been engaged in the study of emotion in the workplace, and how emotions influence the behavior of employees. Employees regard any change introduced to an organization to be either beneficial or harmful, based on individual disruptions caused by such change. According to a scholarly research by Fosha (2005), any transformation in an organization may lead to either negative or positive reactions from the members. Kiefer (2005) gave details on the emotional reactions of middle-level managers to changes such as organizational restructuring and employees’ downsizing. This research further suggested that paying attention to employees’ responses may lead to a feeling of appreciation of the managers’ emotions and experiences, during the change process. Descriptive approach was used to analyze the co-relation between emotion and other aspects brought about by change. In relation to this study, Callan (1993) mentioned that literature on emotion show an increase in how emotions affect job attitudes among employees. Individuals react after any introduction of change as a result of experiences in emotion (Piderit, 2000). Most of the researchers who have investigated emotion fail to identify specific types of attitudes demonstrated by employees at organizational level. One way of addressing this problem, is by finding out the direct association between emotions and salient job attitudes. Most of the organizational transformations are undertaken to alter the quality and substance of work performed. One of the studies aimed to find out the effect of change on employees’ emotions had utilized a text-based approach. The study was conducted to find out the emotions expressed by managers when transformation occurs in the organizations they work for. Since such transformations raise a lot of anxiety, the situation was expected to be used in assessing the variety of emotions exhibited by the affected managers. The two dimensions of emotions that the study aimed to address were pleasantness and arousal. The concept of emotion is well understood as it was indicated by Vakola (2004), but there is diversity in some approaches used in defining the emotion concept. Emotions are different from moods in the nature of their diffuseness. To expand on this view, Lines (2005) notes that emotions are directed to someone while moods are general in nature, and hence have less intensity. Emotions are categorized as being experiential, affective, or physiological. These features are an indication that in an organization, individuals portray their feelings towards some occurrences, through the emotions that they express. A theoretical structure that has been identified with organizational research consists of two dimensions. One of these dimensions is more logical and consistent, and can be explained in different theories of emotion. This specific structure is two-dimensional and assumes circumplex arrangement. The evidence provided by Garrety et al. (2003) in support of circumplex model, proves that individuals may describe different forms of emotions as if to suggest they are highly interrelated. Many scholars have in the past conducted researches about the structure of emotion, where various structures have been suggested. For instance, Neck (1996) identified diverse taxonomies that characterize basic emotions. This is further demonstrated by Kiefer (2002) who reported that when emotions are associated with some specific tendencies, then researchers may be required to use salient taxonomy to study emotional reactions in organizations. The two dimensions of emotions were described to be bipolar in nature and as indicated previously, they were identified as pleasantness and arousal. Pleasantness depicts the scale of emotions based on positivity or negativity, and may be used to demonstrate whether an individual is pleased or displeased. Arousal signifies the level of intensity associated with various types of emotions. Findings and Arguments According to Piderit (2000), changes in an organization can involve major reorganization or minor reorganization, but both affect the employees and employers either directly or indirectly. Many researchers, who have handled the issue of emotions associated with change, tend to emphasize more on the effectiveness of change and the roles played by different individuals, during the transformation process. Due to the magnitude of the reactions that arise during organizational transformation, researchers have made use of such opportunity to analyze the emotions of employees affected by change. The individual who are detached from an organization as a result of downsizing suffer from some emotional imbalance, although this might not be physically displayed. While investigating how employees coped with lay offs due to organizational change, Fosha (2005) realized that individuals who felt that they were laid off unfairly, expressed a greater magnitude of anger. The victims of downsizing appeared lonely, pessimistic, socially isolated, and desperate to some extent (Elias, 2009). It was also found that, employees could experience negative reactions due to change, even in situations when they are not separated from their organizations. Lines (2005) continues to elaborate that laid off staffs perceive their future employment to be threatened, and also experience other forms of emotion- related responses. When Vakola (2004) conducted some interviews with managers, various forms of emotions such as anger, anxiety, cynicism, resignation, and resentment were displayed by those affected by change. In a more expansive perspective, Fosha (2005) carried out an investigation on the effects of change in relation to four organizational value structure types. It was found that change was displayed mostly in negative terms in almost all the four types of structure, as opposed to positive terms. These results were an indication that most organization systems viewed changes on a negative perspective, and this could increase the chances of emotional reactions among employees. According to Kiefer (2005), expression of intense emotional reactions may not be socially acceptable in many organizations. When pleasantness is combined with arousal, the intensity of an emotion is expressed. The reactions of individuals in an organization as a result of change were assessed by their ability to remain calm or their level of elation, which generally describe arousal (Neck, 1996). It is the intensity of arousal that determines the level of mobilization, or the behaviors of different individuals in an organization. The emotions expressed by employees after organizational change may be expressed in the context of being positive or negative, but the interrelation between emotional arousal and change is not very clear. Events that require coping or attention from employees, arouse their emotions while low level of arousal is expressed when coping is deemed to be impossible. Kiefer (2002) summarizes this by noting that employees demonstrate higher emotional arousal. This happens after realizing they would be required to change their behaviors, or even lose their status due to organizational change. Discussion The willingness of employees to cope or not cope with change is demonstrated through their emotions. Many times, emotions are elicited due to the uncertainty brought about by change, as employees may be unaware of the future sustainability of any change implemented. Resistance to change is as a result of fear of being affected negatively (Piderit, 2000). For employees to embrace change wholeheartedly, they ought to be informed how change will affect the overall performance of their organizations. If employees do not support change, they might sabotage any efforts by managers in implementing it. There is no constant way of expressing emotions, as it depends on individuals and the circumstances at hand. Managers should be ready to convince their employees that change is necessary for their personal development and for enhancing performance in their organizations. When this is well defined, then employees have no fear and may not be resistant to change. Resistance to change is not a negative indication towards change, but it portrays the level of misinformation concerning change (Piderit, 2000). Managers therefore play a significant role in creating conducive environment that encourages employees to have positive attitude towards change. By understanding employees’ emotions, managers are in a better position to implement change without causing fear among staffs. Conclusion and Further Research From this study, it can be noted that emotions in change is a wide subject that requires thorough research. Many scholars who have attempted to research on the subject of organizational transformations have demonstrated that, employees express emotions in form of fear, distress, or resistance to change. The research on arousal and pleasantness ought to have been more expansive, so as to indicate clearly, the effects experienced in organizations that are willing to introduce change. Change in an organization may elicit different emotions from employees depending on the extent at which their routine activities are affected by such change. The levels of emotions also depend on how employees understand organizational change. When change is implemented without notifying the employees, resistance is likely to be experienced from the employees and this may hinder the management from achieving the positive outcomes expected in an organization after implementing change. Since managers would want their employees to retain positive attitudes towards change, it is fundamental for them to understand how employees react emotionally. Managers should therefore be fully prepared to deal with emotions displayed by their employees, whether they are positive or negative. It is also crucial for the management to explain to the employees the benefits expected to be brought by change. The benefits might either be on short term or long-term basis, and may focus on the current or future performance of an organization. What this implies, is that managers should expect employees’ resistance to change. They however need to understand that it is difficult to please everyone at the expense of their organization’s performance. Future studies should focus on managers’ emotional reaction to change in various organizations. It should not be assumed that managers are always willing to embrace change, as there are some instances where they also resist change, although they might refrain from showing this openly to their employees. Emotional intelligence should therefore be emphasized as a prerequisite for managers, as this forms the basis of implementing change in their organizations. References Callan, V. (1993). “Individual and organizational strategies for coping with organizational change.” Work & Stress, 7(1), pp. 63-75.Citation count: 135. Elias, S. (2009). “Employee Commitment in Times of Change: Assessing the Importance of Attitudes toward Organizational Change.” Journal of Management, 35(37), pp. 38-52. Citation Count:25. Fosha, D. (2005). “Emotion, True Self, True other, Core state: Toward a Clinical Theory of Affection.” Psychoanalytic Review, 92 (4), pp.513-547. Citation Count: 12. Garrety, K., Badham, R., Morrigan, V., Rifkin, W., & Zanko, M. (2003). “ The use of personality typing in organizational change: Discourse, emotions and the reflexive subject.” Human Relations, 56(2), pp. 211-235. Citation Count: 24. Kiefer, T. (2002). “Understanding the Emotional Experience of Organizational Change: Evidence from a Merger.” Advances in Developing Human Resources, 4(1), pp. 39-61. Citation Count: 55. Kiefer, T. (2005). “Feeling bad: antecedents and consequences of negative emotions in ongoing change.” Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(5), pp. 875-897. Citation Count: 86. Lines, R. (2005). “The Structure and Function of Attitudes toward Organizational Change.” Human Resource Development Review, 4(8), pp. 9-27. Citation Count: 41. Mossholder, K., Settoon, R., Armenakis, A., & Harris, S. (2000). “Emotion during Organizational Transformations: An Interactive Model of Survivor Reactions.” Group & Organization Management, 25(5), pp. 220-240. Citation Count: 77. Neck, C. (1996). “Thought self-leadership: A Self-regulatory approach towards overcoming resistance to organizational Change.” The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 4(2), pp. 202-216. Citation Count: 32. Piderit, S. (2000). “Rethinking Resistance and Recognizing Ambivalence: A Multidimensional View of Attitudes Toward an Organizational Change.” Academy of Management Review, 25(4), pp. 783-794. Citation Count: 508. Vakola, M. (2004). “ The role of emotional intelligence and personality variables on attitudes toward organizational change.” Journal of Managerial Psychology, 19(2), pp. 88-110. Citation Count: 85. Read More