Strayer University HRM560, Assignment 4

Change means doing things differently. Change produces anxiety, and the mind goes to racing; then, fear sets in. Change is not easy; but it is important and attainable. There are many reasons why people resist change from apathy to aggressive resistance; for example, destructive opposition. Diagnosing the sources of resistance is the first step toward finding the best solutions to address the reasons for resistance to change. The following work uses the Starbuck’s employees to study the issue of resistance to change at workplaces. To start with, the work focuses on the reasons for resistance at Starbucks. There are several reasons why employees at Starbucks resist change due to the following factors, changes to their current assignments, poor communication during change implementation, lack of managerial support, and the fear of change.

Potential Causes of Resistance to Your Change Plan

Some of the significant causes of resistance to change include cultural beliefs, lack of managerial support, and fear of the impacts of change (Hodges, & Gill, 2015). Cultural beliefs cause resistance in an organizational setting whereby the company implements changes that do not accommodate the cultural beliefs and practices of the employees. For instance, change to the dress code may affect some cultures, mainly if the dress code includes short skirts where the majority of employees come from a conservative cultural background.

Another cause of resistance to change is a lack of managerial support. The management should ensure that the employees are able and comfortable to transition with the changes in the organization. For instance, training on the use of new equipment can help employees to move on with change quickly. However, when the management is not supportive, the change implementation process becomes challenging, and employees may lose the job in the course.

Being used to the regular operations creates fear in adjusting to new courses in an organization (Kanter, 2012). For instance, a person who is used to serve coffee may find it hard to work now as a cashier or usher at the company. This means that people fear what change may bring to their regular work schedule and assignments.

Some of the sources of resistance towards change include fear of losing the current job positions; employees are very keen on the kind of changes that take place in an organization. Since they would not support changes that are likely to make them lose their current position. Poor communication is another source of resistance by the employees. People may feel that they were not informed of the initiatives and so they tend to oppose their implementation (vanPletsen, 2017).

When change is mention within an organization, employees’ emotions began to run high and thoughts of doing things a new way consumes their thought process, and they resist change. Additionally, because of fear employees leave the organization. Change is scary and some people will never accept change because they can only see the vison for change from their hilltop. For this reason alone, people resist change. People want to think that they are appreciated and their opinion matters in the organization (vanPletsen, 2017). Therefore, if the management fails to communicate about the chances of the change are that employees may resist as a way of getting back at the management. Besides, being used to a routine may make change implement on quite hectic. For instance, if the employees are used to a specific routine, they may feel that is the nest and hence no need to adapt to new ones. In such cases, implementing changes that interfere with current routines may trigger resistance from the employees.

Plan for Minimizing Possible Resistance to Your Change Management Plan

To ensure that the implementation of the change plan is smooth, and as par, the set objective communication will be necessary. Communication helps in ensuring that every key player is involved in the change implementation process. This means that it is essential to inform all the key stakeholders in ensuring that they are up to date with what is going on and what their roles in ensuring successful change implementation is. Communication during change implementation helps the people feel part of the process, and so they give their best towards the process. Some of the communication strategies that can be applied include face-to-face meetings and phone calls.

Relationship between Resistance to Change and Communication

There is a close link between change management and communication. For the change, the process to be successful communication is relevant. Effective communication strategies and channels should be applied to ensure the success of the communication process. When there is effective communication during a change implementation process, employees are informed of the change objectives and their respective roles (Taylor, 2017). Besides communication, it helps in keeping every key person formed on what is going on about the change initiatives. When employees are well informed about the organizational change process through the proper channels such as face-to-face meetings, emails, memos, and inter-office communication, then the change process is less resisted. Everything about the change process depends upon selecting the correct communication channels and the effectiveness in the delivery of the messages.

Communication Strategies

Clear communication messages- the management should ensure that messages sent to the employees are easy to read and comprehend to give the intended response. Communication is at its best when the recipient gets the message and interprets it as intended by the sender hence the ability to provide a relevant reaction.

Establishing long-lasting relations- the communication strategies should ensure that the management and the employees have a good relationship, which includes vertical communication and gives either party a chance to probe for more information without feeling uncomfortable or too demanding. Long-lasting relationships also thrive through proper conflict management techniques.

Show genuine concern- Showing genuine interest is critical; for example, building meaning relationships with employees will be relevant to the organizations. Leaders must show the people that they genuinely care about them by listening, asking questions, and requesting feedback (Roebuck, 2012). When employees feel that management genuinely cares about their development and growth, they are more apt to support the decision-making of their leaders.

Communication Strategy Recommendation

The most appropriate communication strategy for the Starbucks Company is ensuring feedback during communication. If the management and the employees can send and receive feedback in a good time, it means that employees will have their worries clarified. Both sides benefit from the feedback approach whereby every person can get details they expect to get, and they act on them within the set timeframe and as per the specifications. The communication strategy should use communication channels, which allow quick responses such as face-to-face meetings, phone calls, and emails.

Why the Strategy is best for Your Organization

This communication strategy will work for the Starbucks Company since the primary issue that the employees are not well informed about what is going on in the organization. For instance, most of the significant changes the employees are not included in, which makes them left out (Paren, 2015). However, through a feedback oriented communication strategy, it means that employees will manage to know what is going on in the organization and will have a chance to air their views, opinions, and perspectives about the change initiatives.

Solid Communication Plan

The best approach to ensuring a proper communication plan is to establish a customizable communication system whereby every employee in the company can be contacted directly by the management, supervisor, and fellow employees. The customizable communication system will help in increasing feedback from the involved parties and improve the overall communication efficiency of the system.

References

Hodges, J., & Gill, R. (2015). Sustaining Change in Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.