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Change

Why Resist Change?

Change is defined by “Merriam Webster” as “to make different; alter; transmute, to exchange; interchange; to become different; to make different in some particular; to make radically different; to give a different position, course, or direction to; to replace with another; to make a shift from one to another; to exchange for an equivalent sum or comparable item; to undergo a modification of; to put fresh clothes or covering on. synonyms CHANGE, ALTER, VARY, MODIFY .” (http://www.m-w.com) This definition can be frightening for people due to the meaning of this very simple six letter word “change”. I’ve heard it said that “no one likes change except babies.” I can certainly understand that! In the workplace, change can cause a great deal of stress and loss of productivity, disunity and discord. Resisting change is quite natural but when the employees that are affected by the change have a say in how the change will take place, what changes will take place and when the changes will take place, the outcome is much more pleasant and successful. They have a buy-in and will accept change much more readily. (Filatoff, p. 95)
Let’s look at change within an organization experiencing great growth. The challenge is to save time and money and be more productive as an organization. The problem is that the company has grown exponentially in the past two years to the point that roles need to be redefined. Will we need additional staffing or do we redefine roles? As manager of the grocery department, I am challenged with redistributing the workload and redefining roles. I have a department of 6 employees who currently stock and price the merchandize. I will hold a team meeting with my employees and ask for their feedback as to how they feel their workload is going and generally brainstorm with the team for problems they see which need to be addressed. In this format, I can let the team help re-define the roles and volunteer for the differing...