Change can be seen as a threatening and traumatic process for organisational members. What are the chief means that managers have for encouraging the positive acceptance of change?
best airlines in the world. British Airways offered customer training to all employees, in the form of language classes in four the most universally understood languages. As a result of this, the airline now has skilled staff who are motivated and dedicated to their jobs. This is a clear example of workers being made to feel valued by an organisation that takes care of their employees’ education. British Airways, as an international company has also benefited greatly as a result of the management’s decision to train staff in language skills. In today’s international market, where social transformations are constantly taking place, linguistic skills are often seen as invaluable asset. For an international airline, language training for employees would give an unmistakable competitive advantage in the global market, helping, British Airways become one of the best airlines in the world.
Education of employees is therefore one method used to reduce resistance to change in the workplace. There are however other possible methods that may be used to lower the threat of change to employees, management and to the organisation itself. For employees, active participation and negotiation are key factors to ensuring successful change, Hellriegel and Slocum (1999). If employees participate and negotiate with management over the organisational process of change then this could increase the chances of profitable change in several ways. There would be a reduced chance of employees wrongly interpreting the change because they would have played a more active role alongside the organisation management throughout the implementation of the fundamental changes. Being more involved; workers are more likely to feel interested in the company and the changes it is making. This in turn is more likely to produce better results for the changes, as a motivated workforce tends to work more consistently when they are made to feel like an essential part of the organisation.
In order to reduce resistance from a manager’s perspective, it is important to recognise the importance of managerial qualities such as adaptability, spirit of inquiry and flexibility, Glover (2001). These qualities help to identify, select and develop managers who are able to understand cultural influences within their managerial tasks. Change could be dealt with more efficiently if managers are able to develop these qualities. If a manager was adaptable for example, according to Glover (2001), then they would have the readiness to change and compromise and the ability to adapt easily to new situations. As managers do not have total control over the process of change due to the uncertain human element, the attribute of adaptability is especially important because managers are then more able to deal with different situations, which may arise from this human element.
The other two qualities of a manager that could help to reduce resistance to change in the workplace are a spirit of inquiry and flexibility. Both of these qualities could be said to be especially helpful to managers seeking change within international [next page]