fear of change in the workplace
Suddenly, they have a multitude of worries: They must answer all such questions, often without their old support network around them. The challenge for organisations is how do they empower the understanding that creates a family pulling in one direction. “Why fix what isn’t broken?” they will ask. We fear change at work for a variety of reasons. If you try and bulldoze this resistance, you will fail. Even when the going gets tough. The front end of an individual's resistance to change is how they perceive the change. Turning to the hierarchical nature of many organisations again, this is not conducive to people being co-creators of change. Previous post: 14 Symptoms of Change Fatigue, ‘How to build an agile foundation for change’, They might no longer do things the way they have always been done, They may be asked to work in a different team, with a new boss. Many fears of change in the workplace exist because of a risk-averse culture. Fear of external threat is defined as feelings of uncertainty that result from sources outside an employee’s organization. Loss of Job: This is a major reason and the first of the 12 reasons why employees resist change in the workplace. People who are afraid of upsetting others will hold back on ideation. The secret to successfully managing change, from the perspective of the employees, is definition and understanding. And only then can you eliminate the inevitable resistance to change that follows, if fear of change is mismanaged or, worse, ignored. You might expect a higher-level employee to be less concerned about being. This is often the most deeply hidden of all fears. In the case of the desk that has to be moved, tell the employee what's going on. The first step to overcoming fear is to acknowledge that you are, in fact, scared. “Change is life,” Kerr concludes. It is a complex web of potential loss that drives this fear. Driving the fear out of the workplace is essential to unleashing employees’ potential, confidence and innovation – vital ingredients to a thriving, successful business. … There are several styles of fear-based leadership, and several reasons why fear in the workplace spreads so easily – none of them good. 1. Leadership psychologist Tony Robbins agrees, citing certainty as the first of six human needs in his theory of Human Needs Psychology. When communicating about change, change managers seek to create positive scenarios and encourage their people to share their negative thoughts. Why can't things stay like they have always been? Strategy. These fears are often associated with fear of failure, fear of success, fear of rejection, fear of criticism and fear of the unknown. These discussions include the risks of doing nothing and remaining in the status quo. In most cases fear of change stops us from taking action. Resistance to change comes from a fear of the unknown or an expectation of loss. March 4, 2016 “Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better.” —Sydney J. Harris. A small number of employees thrive on change. In their article ‘Changing change management’ for McKinsey & Company, Boris Ewenstein, Wesley Smith, and Ashvin Sologar say that organisations “are being forced to adapt and change to an unprecedented degree: leaders have to make decisions more quickly; managers have to react more rapidly to opportunities and threats; employees on the front line have to be more flexible and collaborative. What Are the Qualities of a Good Manager? This is a place where employees are encouraged to take risks and not fear failure. It is an imperative that employees understand that support exists for them, and that they are encouraged to seek support through the emotional journey of change. Almost two … “Change is the new, constant reality of any workplace. It depends on whether the original employee feels the hiring of an additional employee is a threat to his job or perceives the hiring as bringing in some needed assistance. They won’t express their views or opinions openly. Managers can then compose real-life examples to demonstrate how similar change has been handled successfully previously. Despite our “superior” intelligence, we humans are not much different from these penguins when it comes to anxiety about change. Mastering the art of changing quickly is now a critical competitive advantage.”. You’ll find that morale improves as positive results are experiences, helping to reduce worry – but you must acknowledge that worry exists and remove it from employees’ thoughts to improve productivity. During periods of change, these support structures are often disrupted – either by design or by consequence. To manage change effectively, you must help people overcome their fear of change. Prepare yourself by understanding the process of change and some of the normal responses to change you may experience. Use of negative language and metaphors can lead to unnecessary fear and unwarranted confusion about the nature and scope of the change. To overcome the fear of change in the workplace, focus on helping your teams work well together and make sure employees are engaged and feel valued instead of fearing that you will lose control. In these, people naturally turn to their supervisors and managers for support. By its very nature, organisational change creates uncertainty. The fear of loss can not be attributed to a fear of a single loss. Change can bring fear and anxiety as employees face the unknown. Neither an organisation nor its leaders and managers can afford to leave their employees’ fears unmanaged. And, of course, fear of retrenchment, especially in today’s challenging economic climate. How to Handle Employees’ Fears in an Organisation 1. To overcome the fear of change in the workplace, focus on helping your teams work well together and make sure employees are engaged and feel valued instead of fearing that you will lose control. All are critical to making the changes work—and gee, life after the changes may get better. They won’t do this if they are crippled by fear. Acknowledge the Change. However, for the majority change is seen as challenging at best and impossible at worst. They fear they will lose their position and that their new role will require skills that they don’t possess. That’s scary for most people. History is full of examples of organizations that failed to change and are now extinct. By helping... 3. Definition is a two-way street. Left unchecked, this resistance can scupper even the most meticulously planned change initiatives. Use this time to help people overcome these fears and instil a culture in which work times are when people get their work done and achieve results. Diminishing Fear in the Workplace. Make sure to coach leaders and managers in people management skills, and messages should be delivered openly and honestly. This lack of confidence causes panic, a sense of loss of control, and a fear of failure. Only by understanding what makes people fearful of change can you develop the strategies to manage those fears. Our dreads arise often due to the fear of disappointment, fear of refusal, fear of disapproval and fear … For this reason, leaders must help their employees manage their fear of change as they take the plunge into the unknown. The fear of change is a major driver of resistance to change and change failure. Instead, focus on opening and maintaining clear channels of communication with your employees, so they understand what is coming and what it means to them. The first step to overcoming fear is to acknowledge that you are, in fact, scared. The secret to successfully managing change, from the perspective of the employees, is definition and understanding. The majority of us anticipate changes in the workplace and frequently discuss with our coworkers how workplace dynamics should change for the better. Therefore, it is necessary for change leaders to manage the human side of the change journey. By Elizabeth Stincelli, DM … Employees who realise the potential of developing skills and gaining a wider experience in terms of their own career advancement will be more flexible and adaptable. Foster empowerment, control, and autonomy—People don’t resist change; they resist being controlled. If people know little about the change, the unknown of change will loom large over their emotional state, and the more fear of change they will experience. A general lack of clarity and alignment about managing work. To do this, leaders and managers discuss the future vision and the benefits of executing change. By helping employees to make valuable comparisons like this, managers will help them to overcome their fears and remain positive. Do you shut the door and hide from it or do you welcome that change? What are they concerned about? Allow co-creation to generate change advocates . This is where managers must be at their most proactive, getting people involved by proposing committees and enlisting participants with diverse skills and backgrounds to help drive the change. They do things the they have always done them. Change is constant, and predictions of doom and gloom prevail. In your business environment, are you the one creating change or is change being brought upon you? And the top salesperson's sales may drop to the point that you stop considering them for the new account. Good change management acknowledges this, and encourages people to talk to managers, colleagues, partners, friends, and others to gain the support they need. Change is natural and good, but people's reaction to change is unpredictable and can be irrational. This can lead to frustration within individuals and cause the change project to fall short of its real potential. In an organizational setting, any process, technological advancement, systems, or product change will include streamlining, working smarter, cost reduction, efficiency, faster turnaround times. Ask the employees to join you in that endeavor because only the team can make the change happen. ‘How to build an agile foundation for change’. But it is not the implementation of change that is managed badly, it is the poor management of people’s fear – the beating heart of resistance to change. High level sponsors role model new behaviours and demonstrate their commitment to change. They understand how their boss works, and what is required of them. Their ultimate acceptance of the change is a function of how much resistance the person has and the quality of their coping skills and their support system. Why do people fear change? In its report ‘How do we manage the change journey?’, McKinsey & Company identifies two-way communication as key, using the following communication strategies: Finally, ask people to explain the change themselves to confirm that they understand its aims and benefits and can contextualise their fears and concerns. Such fears will often manifest in resistance to change. Acknowledge your Fears. You also need to understand their reluctance. Don't try to rationalize things. Nothing has greater potential to cause failures, loss of production, or falling quality of work. Stressful, fear-inducing situations can "impact the workplace through absences, lowered performance and possible safety concerns." Fear of Change. Change is essential so that the organizations we work for can stay ahead of the game. Within organisations undergoing change, individual and group fear is quickly transformed into resistance to change. The change does not have to always be major or costly. In the face of continual change and uncertainty in the global economy – not to mention the increasingly myopic focus on short-term gains at the expense of understanding the long-term context – fear in the workplace has become a long-term affliction as evidenced in study after study showing increasing levels of stress paired with falling engagement levels in today’s work environments. They fear that the old ways of working will disappear, or that they will lose their status, or that they will no longer be working with trusted colleagues. People don’t like to admit that they fear failing. Once you’re able to deal with the fear component of the equation, your decision making will naturally become more rational and calculated. 10 Tips for Overcoming Your Fear of Change at Work. 3. Doing so, you can create plans to deal with legitimate downsides while anticipating the upside. In practice, there are 12 reasons why people resist change in the workplace: 1. The most important thing to do when change is happening in the workplace is to acknowledge it. Self-doubt is a driver of many of the fears of change mentioned above. I still fail at something almost every day, but because I … Many companies have struggled to adapt to change, and the world of business is all about survival of the fittest. Intelligent, mature and driven employees will manage their fear and look for avenues to adjust to change and thrive in the new environment. In any business, there are constantly going to be thingsmoving and changing, whether it is due to the need for more efficiency,better turnaround times, or the need for the employees to work smarter.With all these needs comes the opportunity for the company to downsizeor create new jobs, and this is where the fear of job loss comes intoplay. When change happens in the workplace, your employees may fear for their jobs. If you move an employee's desk six inches, they may not notice or care. They may be afraid that they won’t be able to transition to new ways of working. In order to move into a Motivation 3.0 workplace culture, leaders must provide trust, growth opportunities, and meaning in order to achieve it. the lack of clarity and alignment around strategies, priorities, goals, measures and supporting expected values / behaviors drives uncertainty and “fear” at some level. Instead, you overcome the resistance by defining the change and by getting a mutual understanding. You’ll need to determine your desired values and business strategy, and align your desired culture to these. Please note: JavaScript is required to post comments. It’s a kind of rigidity. With these tips in mind, you can more easily overcome your fear of failure at work and in life. Our sales have increased by 40%, and we can't meet that demand, even with lots of overtime. Uncertainty removes this. Do You Know That Intention Is the Third Stage in Managing Change? Encouraging people to think of times when they navigated change in the past is an ideal way to tap into reservoirs of resilience people already have. Not only does this allow for one less thing to stress about, but it also provides an anchor, something to hold onto as they face the winds of uncertainty and change. They want to know what the change will be and when it will happen, but they also want to know why. Their fear of failure compels reluctance to adapt and learn, and they will ‘agitate’ to resist change at every opportunity. Encourage participation in ideation, problem solving, and brainstorming as you build the new culture. A culture of change must be created and maintained. They will be unwilling to try new methods. There is much empirical evidence to support this. Well, we are afraid of change in the workplace for several reasons. Finally, be constantly aware of the emotional response to the new culture and change within the organisation – manage fears. Self-doubt is often caused by past experiences, comparisons with others, and fear of failure. "We need to bring in more workers. Overcome the Fear of Change. These committees not only empower people in the change process, but provide exceptional opportunities to reinforce the rationale for the change and dispel fears that employees may have. Resistance to Change in The Workplace – Where Does It Come from? 1. Mistakes are punished, and so experimentation and innovation are stifled. Change is a necessity; we must change or we become obsolete. … An individual's degree of resistance to change is determined by whether they perceive the change as good or bad, and how severe they expect the impact of the change to be on them. Yet, as an organisation, you want people to be active participants and collaborate in the change project – people tend not to destroy what they create. Learn How to Motivate Employees After Large Business Changes, How to Manage Change and Build Employee Commitment, How to Deal With a Bully in the Workplace, If You Want to Build Successful Teams, Use These 12 Tips, How to Use Empathy to Improve Your Workplace. They have worked with colleagues so long they can almost finish each other’s sentences. Identifying a Fear-Based Culture Traditionally, organisations have operated in hierarchical structures, in which roles are based on levels of management. To feel a part of something bigger, you must understand it. People fear if they upset others then they will be in the spotlight, and that this may put their jobs at risk. (3) Surprise and fear of the unknown In this type of environment, our work transcends fear and instead becomes intrinsic and purpose-driven. The way to be most successful in your business and your work is learning how to be resilient and spontaneous and fluid; to be able to really live with change, to flow with circumstances, to be present for what’s happening right now. The top worker who keeps declining the promotion may quit rather than have to continue making up excuses for turning you down. The front end of an individual's resistance to change is how they perceive the change. Positivity surrounding change permeates from the top down. These fears are often associated with fear of failure, fear of success, fear of rejection, fear of criticism and fear of the unknown. Change takes this away: All these potential events accumulate in the mind and cause fear and panic. Get your people involved with the changes you propose. For example: “Research shows that nearly 75 percent of all organisational change programs fail, not because leadership didn’t adequately address infrastructure, process, or IT issues, but because they didn’t create the necessary groundswell of support among employees.”. Sally Stanleigh. Such fears lead to reticence to engage in any sort of conflict. Finding healthy ways of responding to each is key to furthering your career and the … According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs security and safety are among the six basic needs of humans. Things cannot get better yet remain the same. There will be feelings of discomfort as people cope with loss. Change, Fear, Leadership: Overcoming the Fear of Change in the Workplace. 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