Organizational change is inevitable, especially in today’s dynamic and ever-changing business environments. Therefore, as Karaxha (2019) discussed, most organizations undertake changes to remain competitive in the market or adapt to external forces. Organizations aim at getting their employees on board when implementing a change. However, contrary to organizational expectations, the announced change is met with emotional and behavioral responses, referred to as resistance. People resist change for various reasons, such as job security, pressure increase, retraining, among other factors (Karaxha, 2019). Great managers anticipate there will be resistance to change and come up with change management programs to minimize this resistance. Managers need to develop ways to motivate their employees throughout the change process to achieve the desired results. This article looks at some of the employees’ motivational techniques that managers may use to facilitate change initiatives in the organization.
Organizations consist of people from diverse backgrounds and different competencies. These people have a unique set of behaviors, thoughts, and emotions, making them react differently to situations. Such characteristics define an individual’s personality. Almandeel (2017) defines personality as the “generalization about life, human nature, and exploration of individual differences” (p.111). Literature suggests that the personality traits of an individual influence their work behavior. Almandeel (2017) also describes that people often experience two dispositions of personality: positive and negative affectivity. People with positive affectivity often find pleasure while engaging in routine activities, which leads to improved wellbeing (Almandeel, 2017). Therefore, such people are likely to participate actively in organizational changes. Contrary, people with negative affectivity often portray anxiety, especially to situations that evoke their emotions (Almandeel, 2017). Thus, such people are likely to resist organizational changes.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Moreover, organizations can use the Big Five personality theory to measure the personality traits of their employees. This framework consists of five dimensions: “extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism” (Lim, 2020, p.1). This model helps the employer understand why their employees react differently to the same situation. Thus, understanding the employees' different personality traits is crucial, as it helps the management come up with intervention strategies to ensure that teamwork and productivity are not jeopardized. There are several ways organizations can motivate their employees during organizational change initiatives, as discussed below.
Leadership
One way to motivate the employees is through leadership. The roles played by leaders have changed over the years. According to Özbağ (2016), leaders set moral standards to be replicated by their juniors in the work environment. Leaders should serve as role models through promoting shared perceptions, reinforcing two-way communication, and communicating ethical codes and policies (Özbağ, 2016). Dietz et al. (2020) also assert that leaders can affect their employees through person-focused actions (behaviors), system-focused (changing the working environment), and role modeling. Typically, employee deems their seniors as the people who set standards in work places. Therefore, leaders must understand their personality and how it is likely to affect others within the organization. Research by Easley (2019) found that transformational leadership style positively correlates to openness and extraversion personality traits while autocratic leadership style correlates positively to conscientiousness and neuroticism personality traits. Transformational leaders are likely to positively influence their employees by encouraging participation, providing them with feedback, and working to improve their job satisfaction, leading to minimized resistance to change. On the other hand, autocratic leaders are likely to subject their employees to pressure, poor working conditions, and dictatorial decision-making leading to rebellion.
Communication
Transformational leaders also embrace communication. Communication is key to the employee as it enables them to understand why change is inevitable and how it will likely affect them. Shulga (2020) stated that organizational members would only support change initiatives when the management considers their interests and beliefs. Therefore, change communication is defined as “an employee-relations process used to inform, create understanding, guide, call for action, and, if necessary, alter behavior and reactions to change in a useful, timely, and effective manner” (Shulga, 2020, p.2). The organizational change increases uncertainties with the employees, which calls for quality communication to minimize it. Therefore, organizations should have a clear communication strategy that provides the employee with all necessary information, clarifications and addresses their concerns (Hasanaj, 2017). Companies may use formal or informal communication methods. Shulga (2020) defines formal communication as a top-down approach (management to employees) and uses formal channels, including meetings, memos, emails, etc. Using this approach requires the management to use participatory instead of programmatic communication to minimize resistance to change.
Informal communication kicks in when the formal communication strategy has failed. This approach reflects the employees’ perceptions of the desired change propagated through gossips and rumors (Shulga, 2020). Employees use informal sources to minimize uncertainty, leading to adverse outcomes. Thus, failure to make the employees understand how the change will affect them might lead to rumors, impacting the desired change adversely by creating rebellion. Therefore, managers should embrace consistent and frequent communications through the available communication channels to their employees about the change. Communication enables employees to participate in change management by seeking clarifications. This makes them feel engaged and will commit themselves to the change process. Likewise, the management should give feedback to their employees with the right information. The management should give their employees positive feedback rather than ridiculing them for failing to achieve the desired changes within the specified time. This allows them to make adjustments leading to improved performance. Moreover, it also paints the picture clear to the employees where they are, their achievements, and future expectations. Therefore, communication in change management is key as it empowers the employees to get actively involved in the change management process.
Team building
As described above, people have unique personality traits; thus, management should understand each member's strengths and weaknesses. This understanding helps the management identify the appropriate method to handle each employee. Evidence suggests that embracing teamwork significantly influences empowerment. However, as Todnem et al. (2018) discussed, autonomy and discretion for employees should be respected by the management during team building, which leads to high levels of performance. For instance, the authors insist on the need for participatory decision-making, which enhances commitment. Respecting individuals’ autonomy, identity, and contribution in teams leads to internal motivation, facilitating the achievement of the desired changes (Todnem et al., 2018). Further, besides focusing on team member’s performance, roles and responsibilities, management should also look at conflict resolutions, which also influence team performance.
Rewards
The rewards system has been proven to be effective in winning support for organizational change. According to William (2016), employees need recognition as a way to motivate them. Change management is one of the several ways management can prove to their employees that they are treasured assets. William (2016) notes that people do not automatically work hard for organizations; instead, they need the motivation to continue working. This is explained using the expectancy theory, which holds that people’s motivation to perform is influenced by recognizing and rewarding their efforts (Baakeel, 2018). This calls for the management to use the performance-based reward system, which consequently minimizes employees’ resistance. By rewarding the employees’ efforts, the management has the opportunity to get those resisting on board.
Reinforcement
Once the desired changes have been achieved, organizations need to reinforce and institutionalize them. Change reinforcement is one of the challenges faced by most organizations. According to Jones (2017), after the desired change has been realized, most organizations hastily move to the next change. Change reinforcement requires time and effort, which most managers overlook. Furthermore, organizations have scarce resources and face change saturation, which makes it difficult for change reinforcement. This risks the organization drifting back to the old behaviors, rendering the change insignificant ((Jones, 2017). Therefore, being the last building block to change management, reinforcement should be emphasized for organizations to realize the sustainable change that can deliver expectations for long.
Change reinforcement improves the employees’ satisfaction and efficiency. This calls for consistent recognition of their input through engagement and rewards for their efforts. According to Jones (2017), empowering employees to do things right increases the likelihood of developing the desired habits, which marks an important step towards reinforcing these behaviors. Consequently, these reinforced behaviors have long-term positive impacts on the organization.
In conclusion, it is evident that organizational change is inevitable, especially in today’s dynamic and ever-changing business environments. However, these changes are often met with resistance by the employees. Generally, the different personality traits of the employees influence them to resist organizational change. Therefore, there are several motivational strategies that organizations can use to minimize change resistance. Organizations could work towards improving their leadership styles, communication, team building, rewards, and reinforcement. Focusing on these aspects enhances organizational change management.
References
Almandeel, S. (2017). The mediating role of transformational leadership style on relationship between personality type and turnover intention in Saudi Arabian banking context. International Journal of Organizational Leadership , 6 (1), 109–136. https://doi.org/10.33844/ijol.2017.60270
Baakeel, O. A. O. (2018). Retracted: Using expectancy theory to explain performance appraisal elements and employees’ motivation. Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences , 10 (4S), 365–370. https://doi.org/10.4314/jfas.v10i4S.113
Dietz, C., Zacher, H., Scheel, T., Otto, K., & Rigotti, T. (2020). Leaders as role models: Effects of leader presenteeism on employee presenteeism and sick leave. Work & Stress , 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2020.1728420
Easley, S. (2019). The Relationship Between Leadership Style and Personality Type Among College Students. Dominican Scholar . https://doi.org/10.33015/dominican.edu/2019.honors.st.16
Hasanaj, R. (2017). Importance of Communication During Change: A Case of the Municipality of Vlora. European Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies , 4 (1), 15. https://doi.org/10.26417/ejms.v4i1.p15-19
Jones, B. (2017, February 28). How Positive Reinforcement Keeps Employees Engaged - SPONSOR CONTENT FROM DISNEY INSTITUTE . Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/sponsored/2017/02/how-positive-reinforcement-keeps-employees-engaged
Karaxha, H. (2019). Methods for Dealing with Resistance to Change. Baltic Journal of Real Estate Economics and Construction Management , 7 (1), 290–299. https://doi.org/10.2478/bjreecm-2019-0018
Lim, A. G. Y. (2020). Big Five Personality Traits. The Big Five Personality Traits . https://www.simplypsychology.org/big-five-personality.html
Özbağ, G. K. (2016). The Role of Personality in Leadership: Five-Factor Personality Traits and Ethical Leadership. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences , 235 , 235–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.11.019
Shulga, L. V. (2020). Change Management Communication: The Role of Meaningfulness, Leadership Brand Authenticity, and Gender. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly , 193896552092902. https://doi.org/10.1177/1938965520929022
Todnem, R., Kuipers, B., & Procter, S. (2018). Understanding Teams in Order to Understand Organizational Change: The OTIC Model of Organizational Change. Journal of Change Management , 18 (1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2018.1433742
William, M. (2016). Predictors of effective change management: A literature review. African Journal of Business Management , 10 (23), 585–593. https://doi.org/10.5897/ajbm2016.8208
