LEADING AND MANAGING CHANGE
Introduction:
“Lay-off” is one of the most intricate ways an organization deals with financial, political and/or structural changes. The management has to face resistance, low quality work, concerned employees, rumors, employee dissatisfaction and, the most serious of all, loss of skilled workers. Following are some statements of troubled employees that management generally comes across:
1. “Top management thinks they can run the company alone. We keep asking them the reason of laying-off such talented people, who were once considered the threshold of the organization. All they provide us is with diplomatic and politically correct statements. Some people are saying they want to kick us out and hire their own family and friends, others are saying the company is closing down. We don’t understand the reason and we don’t know what will happen in the future.”
2. “We should have at least been consulted. We have given a large part of our lives to this company and we deserve to be a part of every decision that involves us and our future. The company’s values have been high-level employee participation and time and again our management has also empowered us to make decisions; they should have at least kept that spirit alive.”
3. “My manager never listened to me in the first place. I came to her office one day to confront her on the decision and she gave me 100 reasons why I was wrong and she was right. We are dedicated and experienced people and we know this business more than our management. The least they can do is listen to us and respect our opinion.” Address
Question:
Consider yourself an OD Practitioner and analyze these three statements depicting resistance to change. Identify which strategy you would use to deal with each situation.
Ans:
For 1st situation strategy is Communication
For 2nd situation strategy is Participation and Involvement
For 3rd situation strategy is Empathy and Support