Assessing an Organisation’s Readiness for Change

Kreitner et al warn that before any approach is selected to overcome resistance to change, three key conclusions should be kept in mind.

• First, the organisation must be ready for change.
• Second, organisational change is less successful when top management fails to keep employees informed about the process of change.
• Third, employees’ perceptions or interpretations of a change significantly affect resistance. Employees are less likely to resist when they perceive that the benefits of a change are greater than the personal costs.

Managers are advised to, at least:

1. 1. provide as much information as possible to employees about the change;
   2. inform employees about the reasons/rationale for the change;
   3. conduct meetings to address employees’ questions and concerns regarding the change, and
   4. provide employees with the opportunity to discuss how the proposed change might affect them.