In: Operations Management
Do you believe it is inevitable that employees will respond to change within the workplace with feelings of fear?
· If you respond yes, then suggest actions managers can take to mitigate these fearful responses.
· If your answer is no, then describe the actions taken by companies that prevent these fearful responses.
Share any life experiences you may have seen regarding how well or how poorly companies implemented major changes in the workplace. Why were they effective or ineffective? What can be done to improve the workplace in terms of managing fear that employees may feel at times?
In my opinion, it is not inevitable that employees will respond to change within the workplace with feelings of fear. If the change management process is handled quite effectively, and concerns of the employees are handled effectively by the change agents, this fear and worry of the employees can be negated quite well.
When the need for the organizational change is determined, the management of this change process becomes very important. The manager can go for the below-mentioned steps to deal with these situations:-
Creating a free and fair communication between the managers and the employee so that the reasons behind the change can be conveyed and resistances in the path of change can be removed.
A systematic and proactive approach must be used by the managers to overcome any kind of resistance and ensure the engagement of the employees in implementing the change
The managers can use some of the employees as the change agents and thus these employees can be given the responsibility for explaining the reasons for change and promoting the acceptance of this change.
Both formal and informal communication and interaction with the employees can help in overcoming the resistance.
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In my last organization where I was working as a Project manager, the top management decided to implement the 360-degree performance appraisal program. It was a successful change process. In order to implement this new method, several change management teams were forced. The employees were given free consultant time so that they can discuss the new appraisal system with the HR department and their seniors.
Moke practices and training modules were formed which were quite useful for the employees to understand the concept of 360-degree appraisal. There were meetings and free interactions between the top management, employees and line managers. Due to proper coordination of different departmental heads, HR department and change agents, and extended support by the top management, this activity of implementing the 360-degree appraisal system was quite successful.