Sir: Management faces a challenging challenge in today’s intricate and dynamic Nigerian industries. Employee resistance has been recognised as a major element in the failure of many well-intentioned and well-conceived initiatives to make change inside the organisation. Employee resistance is a universal process of change. Large amounts of resources are frequently used by corporations to train staff in new methods of reaching desired objectives. Management faces a number of obstacles due to people’s inclination to “protect the status quo,” which must be overcome in order to bring about the desired change.
If management does not address concerns of resistance in the workplace, a variety of challenges may arise, which they must carefully assess. When the motivation for a change isn’t evident, some people could reject it. People prefer to be informed, especially if change could effect their careers.
When the advantages and rewards of implementing the change are deemed insufficient for the work involved and when the change poses a danger to employment, authority, or status within an organisation, change may be viewed negatively. A successful change plan could be destroyed by resistance to change.
Opposition is expected with most change management attempt. Nonetheless, some opposition to change management initiatives could be dysfunctional. Consultants and managers may characterise resistance as the consequence of employee weakness. This may lead to low morale, mistrust, people becoming self-centered and narrow-minded, and other negative effects.
Resistance is typically seen as a barrier to the effective development of a change process. Yet in reality, it is not entirely passive; rather, it is a strong, effective, and dynamic energy that is a crucial component in comprehending any transformation development.
Since change frequently includes moving from the familiar to the unknown, resistance is a natural and expected reaction to change. Every change endeavour faces resistance, but it may be handled to allay the concerns voiced by change agents. If official measures to decrease the obstacles to practising anything new have not been taken, people will not do so. To alter a person’s behaviour, one must first accept the need for change and understand its benefits, and then the environment’s physical features must accommodate the new behaviour.
As a result, it became widely accepted that, in contrast to conventional wisdom, resistance (and the conflict it might bring about) may not be an enemy of change. Instead, there is a compelling argument that argues resistance shouldn’t be treated adversarially since it can aid organisational transformation efforts.
At all stages of the change process, opposition to change should be anticipated; but, in order to encourage acceptance and adaptation, individuals should be made aware of the internal and external forces driving the change.
• Yusuf Adebola Bako, PhD, is Sub Dean, School of Part-Time Studies, Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Ogun State, Nigeria
