“Who moved my Cheese?”
Thank you HC1 for your response to our post. When dealing with resistance to change there can be a number of factors. Some of these factors are; lack of open communication, lack of knowledge, lack of support, and some simply not willing to do so due to rigidity. I also work for Fraser health and often times I have witnessed lack open communication builds resistance. For the changes I have seen in Fraser health, there has always been education around the change provided to employees. For example; when new tools are implemented, staff are provided in-services on how to utilize these tools, whether online or paper. Often times there are a point person appointed to help the rest of the team, if all members are not able to attend due to shift work, or cost purpose. So I don’t think knowledge is just the only factor here. I believe ongoing support from leadership is necessary. “Management can take concrete steps to deal constructively with these staff attitudes. The steps include emphasizing new standards of performance for staff specialists and encouraging them to think in different ways, as well as making use of the fact that signs of resistance can serve as a practical warning signal in directing and timing technological changes”(Lawrence, 2014). A big way to help those resistive to change is to support and guide them through. Despite, education and knowledge, some still may not agree with change. In these cases, having the resources available and management availability to facilitate change goes a long way. Perhaps change talk as mentioned by Lepsinger can be an essential piece. “Change talk techniques include identifying the behaviour the person or team needs to change, “(Lepsinger, 2010, p.157).
“Don’t Just Focus on Senior Leaders…Involved middle managers and keep them engaged.”
The HC1 team provided some very good insights into the complex relationship of middle managers/leaders and their staff, including the tension of union environments and the nature of middle managers being stuck between senior management and frontline staff. Indeed, many people who work in a union environment often sense the tension between the employers, who is represented by managers, versus the union, who are represented by staff members. One of the ways of resolving this tension is by managers using authentic leadership when dealing with middle managers and staff members. Authentic leadership means that leaders treat employees authentically, are consistent between their values and actions and work together with the employees for the benefit of the organization (Hsieh, C.C., & Wang, D.S., 2015). This will positively affect employee attitudes, behaviour as well as engagement (Hsieh & Wang, 2015).
Because of the very nature of middle managers being stuck between stakeholders and frontline staff members, it is more the reason to engage with middle managers during a change initiative. Middle managers in their unique situation often have many valuable insights into the atmosphere of current frontline staff as well as the senior manager’s directive and challenges. Middle managers act as a bridge between the two groups and often able to find common ground. The engagement of middle managers proves to be invaluable during change initiatives because of the middle manager’s position in the organization.
Take aggressive actions to avoid commitment dip
We agree that it is crucial to make progression a learning process but what good will comes out of learning if a leader is not quick enough to apply that information for the advancement of the organization.
Seventeen percent of executives attending a Strategic Leader Program said that they face the challenge of gaining commitment to their ideas and their success requires the engagement efforts of their team members (Hughes, 2014, p. 123). Whether directly or not, the leader always sets an example of what the organization expects from its employees so it becomes their duty to ensure commitment. The idea of change is not enough, finding collective meaning and commitment and redefining resistance by taking necessary actions to instil motivation and transforming the culture changing values and the way people work together to achieve it is the way to attain everlasting changes (Fullan, 2002, p. 17)
Stay focused for the first three months
Thank you for your thoughts on this HC1. It is very true about developing a habit which takes at least 2 months; however, this happens only when you take small steps each day. In fact, to stay focused for the first 3 months does not necessarily mean developing a habit; it simply means to stay adamant on your decision and not forget it. Moreover, the development of any project or process (change) depends on the response in initial months.
Also, team HC1 presented an example of international students coming to Canada and going back if they cannot adopt the change. I believe, this phenomenon is personal; besides, this might not be comparable to organizational or workplace policy change. Immigrating to a different country brings change into an individual’s life and does not affect people around; whereas, policy change in the organization is more of a collective effort (Weiner, 2009). For this collective effort to be successful, there needs to be a behaviour change (para 3).
Reminders can be frustrating only when it is framed or written in a particular way. Friendly reminders are meant for motivation. For example; instead of saying, “don’t forget to complete the presentation”, one may say “looking forward to another dynamic presentation of yours”. Many of us have inspirational quotes or pictures in their room; it motivates us and reminds us of our goal.
Conclusive Statement
Change is not an easy process. There are various factors involved, whether its resistance, communication via the middle manager, commitment or motivation to change. Change requires ongoing support towards each other within the team. In order to facilitate change, senior management and frontline staff must have an open and honest line of communication. Resistance may be unavoidable; however, with resources and support from one another this can be minimized. Building a trusting relationship between each other and taking the opportunity to understand feeling and emotions during change is crucial. “Empathy is a way of showing you understand what others think and how they feel about change”(Lepsinger, 2010, p. 158). Overall change becomes easier when compassion is shown by each other during this stressful process.
References:
Fullan, M., (2002). The Change. Retrieved November 6, 2018 from
http://www.ghaea.org/files/IowaCoreCurriculum/Module1/Mod1-FullanChangeLeaderArticle.pdf
Gerardo, L. (2013, November 05). Who moved my cheese Full Movie. Retrieved November 6, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QmeWe2KoDs
Hughes, R., Beatty, K. & Dinwoodie, D. (2014). Becoming a strategic leader: your role in your organization’s enduring success. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Hsieh, C.-C., & Wang, D.-S. (2015). Does supervisor-perceived authentic leadership influence employee work engagement through employee-perceived authentic leadership and employee trust? International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(18), 2329–2348. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.student.twu.ca:2420/10.1080/09585192.2015.1025234
Lawrence, P. R. (2014, August 01). How to Deal With Resistance to Change. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/1969/01/how-to-deal-with-resistance-to-change
Lepsinger, R. (2010). Closing the execution gap: How great leaders and their companies get results. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Weiner, B. J. (2009). A theory of organizational readiness for change. Implementation science, 4(1), 67. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2770024/