Challenges to Organizational Change

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Primary Challenges to change/ resistance to change by employees:
The leader who wants to bring about change must have strong internal motivation, must have the ability to make difficult decisions, and must check their ego. The main challenges to change in an organization arise because of poor planning. The leader has not thought out the change process completely. Further, the leader faces the challenge of lack of consensus. The leader must have all management levels to be on board to deal with changes or face dissention. An important challenge to change is the failing to communicate with all employees. This invites rumors and fear into the workplace. This becomes especially important if there is downsizing or merger. The employees must know all negative or positive developments. Otherwise they feel uncertain (1). Employee resistance is an important challenge to change. The employees become comfortable with the manner in which the business is run and they know the expectations and their role in the company. The leader must be willing to take the right risks, must be conscious of the organization, and must be adaptable. The challenges to change emerge because the conditions required for the change are not adequate. For example, the infrastructure required for implementing the change is not in place. The challenges to change occur because the degree of change in not appropriate. For example, the change involves discharging 50% of employees, and a high increase in workload. The challenges to change occur because the level of learning required is unreasonable. For example, a machine operator on the shop floor is suddenly required to perform the duties of a salesperson and enter data into sales software. Challenges to change occur because the change undermines the authority of those high in the hierarchy. For example, the change takes away the authority of four vice-presidents in a large company. Challenges to change occur because a sudden change in the organizational structure is not matched by adequate changes in organizational culture(5). For example, hierarchy is removed and a team based structure is created but the employees still seek to follow procedures, roles, and rules. The ...