Introduction

"People don’t change their behaviour unless it makes a difference for them to do so.” - Fran Tarkenton

We have dealt with the human response to change and how a manager can lead employees through the three phases of change. We have also explained comprehensively that the human response in the first two stages may be emotional and that moving through the change curve would entail a phase of resistance. Sometimes the magnitude of resistance is so severe that management stagger under the pressure, hence we include this unit to assist you in understanding and dealing with it.

Many managers adopt short-term, quick-fix solutions to organisational problems. Due to a lack of strategic planning, management often spend a lot of time “fighting fire with fire”. Quick-fix solutions do not solve underlying problems and have very little staying power. Change is doomed from the start when this approach is adopted.

In order to make change a reality, it is important for the change agent to choose a method/approach to overcome real resistance to change. Unless the nature of the resistance is clearly identified and remedies to overcome it have been selected and implemented, the change effort is unlikely to be successful and can cause a lot of anger, confusion, resentment and distrust. The fibre of any organisation is its people, and a change ill-implemented without due consideration to its impact on the morale of the employees, is a recipe for disaster. In reducing resistance to change, most change authors suggest the use of one or more of the options developed by John P. Kotter. We will provide you with a description of his internationally acclaimed approach.

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