Organization X’s Resistance to Change

Subject: Management
Pages: 3
Words: 611
Reading time:
3 min
Study level: College

Introduction

Organization X is a public company located in Kuwait. Both the strategy manager and the Human Resource manager play the role of bridging the organization with the outside world. In other words, they are the key personnel to be contacted in the organization in case of any inquiries. This project proposal offers a glimpse preview of change resistance among employees in the organization and the possible measures that can be taken to address the challenge.

Gaining access to the organization

There are a number of methods that can be used to gain access to the organization. To begin with, personal interviews are a powerful tool for gathering relevant information from organization X. The interviews can either be structured or unstructured. In the case of unstructured interviews, no formal plan is followed. Ideas are generated at random but are later sorted out in a survey paper in terms of relevance. In addition, there are no unique set of questions that are used to guide unstructured personal interviews.

On the other hand, a specific questionnaire is used in a structured personal interview. Since employees are resisting change in this organization, it is highly recommended that an unstructured form of personal interview be used. This will make it possible for the management to gather a lot of vital information regarding the prevailing challenge. In any case, employees can offer adequate and voluntary information in an informal environment.

Second, focus groups can also be used to obtain pertinent information from the organization on why employees are resisting the proposed changes. These are groups that are uniquely established to explore vital issues affecting an organization at any given time. A collective activity is carried out by a focus group because it concentrates its effort in a single area of concern. Organization X will immensely benefit from focus groups because members of such groups will be ready to share their concerns without any fear. The collective mind of a focus group also generates the best results.

In addition, other methods that can be used to gain access to the organization include surveys, observations and field trials.

Problem facing the organization

The main challenge is that employees are resisting change at the organization. The company is implementing a new strategy that focuses on an automated system. The organization desires to operate in a paperless environment since it will minimize instances of bureaucracy. There is also need to institute a new promotional system that can boost the productivity of employees.

Finally, a new system of hierarchy is to be put in place. The current structure is supposed to be downsized alongside developing a new job description for workers. However, the company is facing several challenges of implementing this strategy due to old-fashioned managers and employees who are rejecting the new strategies. They are not willing to embrace technology. A number of employees have also rejected the new promotional system that seeks to boost productivity because it is against their interests. The new hierarchy will eliminate some jobs and also assist the top management team to carry out performance appraisal on a regular basis.

Proposed solutions

The following strategies can be adopted:

  • All employees should participate in executing the change process. They should be involved in all decisions that entail changes which directly affect them.
  • The management should immediately initiate a thorough communication process with all the employees so that they can understand the organization’s needs for the proposed changes.
  • Capacity building and training programs should be initiated so that employees can gain requisite knowledge/skills on the new changes.
  • Incentives and a comprehensive reward program can be linked to the new changes in order to minimize chances of resistance.