If you’ve been following along with the YES! Your Human Resources Solution series about organization change, you know why organization change is important, and you’ve learned some ways to go about setting and implementing that change.  (Miss an earlier part of our series?  Catch up on Part 1 – The Importance of Organization Change and Part 2 – Best Practices for Implementing Organization Changes.)  Now comes the really tough part: getting your employees to buy in to that change.  You see, although change can mean a positive new direction for the company, change is also inherently scary.

Change represents a great, spooky unknown for your employees, whether you’re growing with a new product line or downsizing the organization chart.  Employees will wonder, How will that change affect the company?  How will it affect the culture, competitiveness, or reputation?  More important, how will that change affect my unique role in the company?  In any time of change, the only thing that’s certain is your employees’ feeling of uncertainty.  It’s up to you to staunch their fears and gain their buy-in, to help ensure the smoothest transition.  This is how you do it.

Consider the Type of Change

Knowing the change you’re asking your employees to embrace will help you understand the different reactions employees might have.  Is it a process change, such as a new technology or changed workflow pattern?  If so, employees may respond with anxiety and obstinacy over having to learn something new.  Is it a strategic or structural change, which could bring serious organizational and cultural implications?  If so, employees may respond with fear for the state of the company and their role in it.  Or is it a human resources–related change, which directly impacts employees through salary, benefits, or work schedule?  If so, employees may respond with resentment and hostility.  The gravity of the change will play a large role in the level of employee resistance.

Understand the Cause of Resistance

To better understand your employees’ points of view, realize that resistance is a reasonable response to change.  Whether you’re changing an employee’s direct supervisor or reducing an employee’s benefits, a change at work can have major implications in an employee’s life, both personally and professionally.  So now your change is not just shaking up your employees’ cubicles, it’s shaking up their stress levels, their finances, and possibly their home lives.  Employees may not be happy with this personal earthquake, even if it’s only temporary—and that’s OK.  There is an adjustment period with any change.  Your communication strategy can help determine whether this earthquake feels like a 2.0 or an 8.0.

Communicate the Change

As always, communicate, communicate, communicate.  Employees will feel more at ease about what’s to come if they actually know what’s coming.  You’ll also have a better time managing resistance by mitigating misinformation.  So openly share the details of the impending change and how it will impact the company.  This is especially critical if the change is drastic (a workforce reduction) or sensitive (an across-the-board salary cut).  Teach supervisors the importance of supporting the change and being able to explain why the change is important.  Always remind employees of the positive potential of the change at hand, and how critical each employee’s role is to the company’s success.  Instilling a sense of personal responsibility in implementing change can help your employees feel like they own part of the process.  This can make them feel better about (and less resistant of) the change.

Listen to the Resistance

Even if you’ve communicated like a champ and have done your best to mitigate the resistance to change, employees may still resist.  That doesn’t mean you’ve failed.  One of the most difficult things to realize about employee resistance is that it doesn’t have to be negative or unfounded; the company can actually benefit from listening to resistant employees.  Employees who resist new technology may not be unwilling to learn or embrace the change—they may find that the new technology is buggy, cumbersome, or time-consuming, and that it may actually be inhibiting productivity.  Employees who resist furlough days may indicate that a mass exodus is on the horizon, and that your resources may be better spent adjusting the furlough days instead of investing in a brand-new workforce.  So if, despite your best efforts, your employees still resist change, try to consider their complaints with an open mind.  Your company may be better off making slight tweaks to the change strategy to keep the company and its employees at their best.

Has our series on organization change inspired you to examine opportunities for change in your business?  If you find yourself on the cusp of organization change, YES! is here to offer Human Resources support for your transition.  Put our more than 20 years of HR experience to work for you!  Do you need to change up your company’s org chart?  We can help you write effective job descriptions and recruit and retain top talent.  We can also help design the timetables and communication strategies most effective in a workforce reduction or a company acquisition.  We can even help you research, select, and roll out the compensation strategy and the employee benefits and recognition programs that will best support your unique workforce.  We’re here to help you turn your company’s vision for the future into a reality.

Contact us for a free consultation to find out how YES! can best benefit your unique business needs!