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Dealing with and Managing Resistance to Change

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Dealing with and Managing Resistance to Change
Dealing with and managing resistance to change
The top two reasons for employee resistance are
1. 2. A lack of awareness about the change Comfort with the ways things are and fear of the unknown.

The Top 10 Reasons Employees Resist Change 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. The individual's personal predisposition to change. Surprise and fear of the unknown. Climate of mistrust. Fear of failure. Loss of status and/or job security. Peer pressure. Disruption of cultural traditions and/or group relationships. Personality conflicts. Lack of tact and/or poor timing. Not seeing the benefits.

The key phases for managing employees during change:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Awareness of the need to change Desire to participate and support the change Knowledge of how to change (and what the change looks like) Ability to implement the change on a day-to-day basis Reinforcement to keep the change in place

The six phases personal or professional change
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Anticipation. The waiting stage. They really don't know what to expect so they wait, anticipating what the future holds. Confrontation. People begin to confront reality. They realize that change is really going to happen or is happening. Realization. Post change - Realizing that nothing is ever going to be as it once was. Depression. Often a necessary step in the change process. This is the stage where a person mourns the past. Not only have they realized the change intellectually, but now they are beginning to comprehend it emotionally as well. Acceptance. Acceptance of the change emotionally. Although they may still have reservations, they are not fighting the change at this stage. They may even see some of the benefits even if they are not completely convinced. Enlightenment. In Phase 6, people completely accept the new change. In fact, many wonder how they ever managed the "old" way. Overall, they feel good about the change and accept it as the status quo from here forward.

It is important to note that people

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