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Employees Resist Change

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ATENEO DE DAVAO UNIVERSITY – SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND GOVERNANCE | Reaction Paper | FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSES AND ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR SUBJECT |

Mariane P. Salmasan
10/21/2013
|

Why Do Employees Resist Change

The normal and natural reaction to change is resistance. Every individual has a threshold for how much change they can absorb. This resistance is inevitable and that management must be prepared to respond to it.

In his article on why do employees resist change, Paul Strebel described that managers and employees view change differently. Both groups know that vision and leadership drive successful change, but far too few leaders recognize the ways in which individuals commit to change to bring it about. Managers see change as an opportunity to strengthen the business by aligning operations with strategy. However, employees see change as neither something to sought after nor welcome as it is disruptive and intrusive. It changes the balance.

In order to fix this difference, managers must put themselves in their employees’ shoes and examine the terms of the personal compacts between the employees and company. Personal compact is the reciprocal obligations and mutual commitments, both stated and implied, between employees and the organization. It has three major dimensions. The first one is the formal dimension wherein employees capture the basic tasks and performance requirements for a job as defined by the company. In return, managers convey the authorities and resources the employees need in order for him to do his job. If it is not clearly stated in the documents, oral agreement is done in this dimension. This formal compact will not ensure that employees will be satisfied with their jobs or that they will make personal commitment that managers expect.

The second dimension is the psychological dimension. This addresses aspects of the

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