Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Change Management: Fear Management

Change is natural and good. Reaction to change can be unpredictable.

One very important aspect of managing change is managing people’s fear. Since change is natural and good, why is it so difficult for so many people? Many respond to change unpredictably and irrationally. However, it can be managed.


Little is as upsetting to your people as change. Change has great potential to cause failures, loss of production, or falling quality. Still, nothing is nearly as important for an organization’s survival as change. A cursory search will find many examples of organizations, now extinct, that have failed to change. There’s a secret to successfully managing employees deal with change. That secret is definition and understanding. Resistance to change of any kind is based in fear of the unknown. There might also be an expectation of loss.

The degree to which an individual will resist change is determined by how they perceive the change. Is it good or is it bad? How severe is the personal impact? Personal acceptance of the change is based ultimately on how much resistance the person has and the quality of their coping skills and their support system.

As a leader, it is the manager’s job to address the resistance. Help the employee reduce their resistance to a minimal and manageable level. Do not bulldoze over the resistance.

Perception, it matters a lot

Moving an employee’s desk six inches may not even be noticed or a cause for concern. However, if the reason for moving the desk was to make room for another worker in an adjacent desk, that same employee might respond with significant resistance. It all depends on whether the employee feels the new employee is a threat to his job, or if the help is additional welcomed.

Most of the time we consider a promotion a good change. However, an employee who is uncomfortable with his ability to handle the new job might strongly resist the promotion. The employee might go to extremes to give excuses for not wanting the promotion but will never reveal the real reason.

Although you might expect a higher-level employee to be less concerned about being laid off since they have savings and investments that should support them during the subsequent job search, they may feel over extended. They might be concerned about an extended or complicated job search. Conversely, any concern for a low-income employee may be unfounded because of a nest egg they stashed away in anticipation of the cut.

Bulldozing your way through this resistance will result in failure. The employee whose desk you had to move will develop production problems. The top worker who keeps declining the promotion might quit rather than have to continue making up excuses for turning down the promotion. Overcoming the resistance by understanding the real issues, defining the change is key to success.


To begin with, you need to define the change in as much detail and as early in the process as you can. Give updates as things develop and as they become more clear. Before moving that employee’s desk, tell them what is going on. Don’t be afraid of sharing information. Information empowers the employee and helps them understand the need for the change. “We need to bring in more workers to help since our sales have increased by 40%.” One possible strategy for helping the employee deal with the change might be to get them involved. Seek out suggestions for how the space should be rearranged. Additionally, you need to get the employees to define the reasons behind their resistance.


Understanding is also a two-way street. It’s important for the employees to understand what is changing and why but you also need to understand the basis for their reluctance.
You have to help them understand. The employees will want to know what the change will be and when it will happen, but they will also want to know why. Why is it happening now? Why do they have to change? Why does it have to affect me? As important as understanding the change, they have to understand what isn’t going to change. This provides one less thing to make them worry. It also gives them an anchor, something to grasp as they face the troubled waters of change and uncertainty.

You need to understand their fears so you can help them overcome them. What are they concerned about? How strongly do they feel about those concerns? Is the change perceived as good or bad?

Manage The Issue

Do not rationalize things. Do not waste time wishing people were different or more predictable. Focus, instead, on opening and maintaining clear channels of communication with all your employees. Help them understand what is coming and what it means to them. They will appreciate you for your candor. The will be more productive before and after the change. The change will be more of an improvement rather than just change for change’s sake.