How to Deal with Employee Resistance to Change
The company faced a new rollout.
Employees learned a new computer system and it changed the daily workflow. The manager got frustrated with employees who complained about the changes and didn’t appreciate how the system boosted the company’s efficiency and long-term competitive advantage.
When your employees resist change, it has a negative impact on work culture.
Most likely, your employees grumble and complain to each other rather than direct their concerns to you.
Water cooler conversations with other employees fuel negative and inaccurate assumptions.
You hear their disgruntled concerns through the grapevine and you’re frustrated. It slows down progress and adds pressure as you attempt to move the project forward.
Before you react to your employee’s resistance, consider the cause of the pushback and how you can gain buy-in to change.
Your Choice Point
As a leader, you choose how to handle employee resistance.
A stern lecture, shaming or yelling might help temporarily, but not in the long run. Initially, it feels good to vent, but these approaches do nothing for trust and team morale. Ignoring the negative chatter will infect your culture with even more resistance.
A better choice is to pause and reflect on the possible reasons behind your employees’ resistance:
1. Fear
Fear of the unknown often fuels resistance.
The negative bias of the brain overemphasizes the negative and minimizes the positive. Your employees may be putting up barriers to change because they have fears they haven’t expressed.
Do you know and understand what’s at stake for them?
How much have you assured them of their job security?
2. Frustration
Some employees can only see how they are impacted by change.
Have you explained the big picture and the “why” behind the upcoming changes? Have they been adequately trained on the new system?
3. Fear of Failure
With any change, there’s a learning curve.
Underneath the complaints, employees may feel out of control and inadequate. Something they used to master is no longer easy for them. It may take them longer to do work they used to breeze through.
How much encouragement have you given for their efforts and understanding?
The Solution: Listen and Validate
When you face employee resistance, consider these reasons.
Address the resistance and listen to how they view the change. Validate their contribution to the company’s growth and their value to the team. Give them a picture of how they will benefit from the changes in the long run.
When you take the time to understand your employee’s point of view, you defuse resistance and get buy-in. This approach transforms resistance into collaboration and creates a stronger, more cohesive team that can navigate future changes with confidence.
Your Next Step
Experiencing employee resistance to change? Book a complimentary strategy session and you’ll receive 2-3 strategies you can use right away.
I look forward to helping you improve employee buy-in to change in your company.
About the author
Bonnie Artman Fox, MS, LMFT works with executive leaders who want to gain self-awareness about the impact of their words and actions and up-level their interpersonal skills.
Drawing from decades as a psychiatric nurse and licensed family therapist, Bonnie brings a unique perspective to equip executive leaders with the roadmap to emotional intelligence that brings teams together.
Bonnie’s leadership Turnaround coaching program has an 82% success rate in guiding leaders to replace abrasive behavior with tact, empathy, and consideration of others. The end result is a happy, healthy, and profitable workplace…sooner vs. later.
What if it’s management resisting the change?
Hi Robert, thank you for your question. It is tough to work in an environment where managers resist change. As another resource, here’s a blog where I wrote about three choices when it comes to dealing with difficult bosses. https://bonnieartmanfox.com/when-a-toxic-workplace-becomes-your-turning-point-choosing-to-grow/. After you read it if you’d like to have a 30-minute complementary strategy call to discuss your next steps, here’s the link to schedule an appt. https://bonnieartmanfox.com/schedule-a-call/. Wishing you all the best, Bonnie