In practice

1. Do change management right the first time (or at least try to do)

Although resistance is a normal human response to change, we should avoid or mitigate a significant amount of resistance by applying effective change management from the start of a project or initiative.

Participants in Prosci’s 2019 benchmarking study indicated that 47% of the employee resistance they encountered could have been avoided by implementing effective change management practices and principles. The moral here is: If you do adopt a Change Management Action Plan right the first time, you can prevent much of the resistance from occurring.

1. Expect resistance to change (at all the levels and through all the process until full completion of the targeted phase)

Actions for addressing and mitigating resistance include:

• Actions for addressing and mitigating resistance include

• Utilizing a structured change management approach from the design of the project

• Engaging senior leaders as active and visible sponsors of the change

• Recruiting support from people managers as advocates for the change

• Communicating the need for change, its impacts on individuals, and the benefits to employees

1. Address resistance formally (both directly and indirectly)

Sources of resistance include:

• Employees who are deeply invested in the current way of doing work

• Individuals who designed the current way of doing work that will be modified

• Employees who anticipate an increase in their workload as a result of the change

• Individuals who advocated a particular alternative that was not selected, (for instance, they preferred Option B, but Option A was selected)

• Individuals who have been very successful and rewarded in the current way of doing work

In the case of Public Administrations, these stakeholder groups are particularly relevant and may present potential sources of resistance. Therefore, it is important to proactively address them throughout the project lifecycle by implementing targeted tactics to mitigate these resistance.

1. Identify the root causes of resistance (and prioritise the actions)

In the context of organizational change, it appears that among several root causes for resistance, the following factors play a significant role:

• Lack of awareness of why the change was necessary

• Concerns about the impact of the change on current job role and responsibilities

• Fear based on past experiences of failed changes, leading to uncertainty about the outcome of the current change

• Lack of visible support from and trust in management or leadership

• Lack of inclusion in the change process

1. Engage the “right” resistance managers and reinforce positively and proactively team building (both at the elaboration and the implementation phases of the Change Management Action Plan)

Managers have five unique and important roles to play during times of change:

• Communicator

• Liaison – project team

• Advocate support for the change

• Resistance Manager –mitigate resistance to the change

• Coach – supporting employees through the change process

1. Ensure the appropriate management and leadership (is not the same)

Basically, leadership refers to the influence and position of the individual as a leader within his group or team. A successful leader is distinguished by their ability to inspire and lead their team to achieve common goals. The definition of leadership involves qualities such as self-confidence, exemplarity, open-mind and the ability to manage challenges and crises within the organisation.

There are 11 types of leadership commonly accepted for classification:

1. Authoritarian (or autocratic)

2. Participatory (or democratic)

3. Laissez-faire (or delegative)

4. Visionary

5. Coaching-Based

6. Affiliative (or collaborative)

7. Democratic (but also very limited by the timing) leadership

8. Lead

9. Directive

10. Transformational leadership

11. Transactional Leadership

1. Take care about the motivation of the stakeholder

While no single theory can fully explain human motivation, various theoretical explanations serve as the foundation for developing approaches and techniques to enhance motivation in different areas of human endeavor.

There are 4 Different types of motivation

The self-concordance model of goal setting differentiates between four types of motivation (Sheldon & Elliot, 1999). These are:

• External motivation

• Introjected motivation

• Identified motivation

• Intrinsic motivation

Content Theories of Motivation

Are mainly focused on what motivates people and addressed specific factors like individual needs and goals

• Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs

• Alderfer’s ERG theory

• McClelland’s achievement motivation theory

• Herzberg’s two-factor theory

In this sense, human behavior plays a significant role in both the impact of and response to Change Management.