Why did employees resist the change?
The University of Chicago medical centre came out with a plan to minimize its operational cost by laying off more than a hundred employees in a way of maximization of work efficiency with limited workers, more work for fewer employees was the statement the administration came up with. Also, they implicated state cuts through taxes as another reason for the layoffs. But union leaders and medical staff argued that the layoffs' purpose was not to run a small operation as stipulated by the administration, but, was intended to hire non-unionized workers with cheaper rates. This led to a strike (Carter, Sullivan & Goldsmith, 2013).
What were the problematic issues that were not being effectively addressed, from the employees’ point of view?
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The problematic issues were the security of tenure, more work with less pay, and trying to reduce unionized workers as a way of reducing their operational costs at the expense of employees.
Were the underlying concerns legitimate?
The concerns were not legitimate as the administration was initializing unethical termination, and they did not take into account the issues that were raised by workers in their previous meetings leading to the strike. Prevention measures were not taken as the dialogue that was necessitated between the parties, was not productive. The administration did not follow labor laws.
What could the leader have done to address the situation or prevent the concern from arising?
Dialogue and an agreed compensation could have worked as a prevention measure if it was considered through time (Cohen, 2009).
How would this have changed the outcomes of the change effort?
There was a sitting at the end and a settlement was agreed on between the administration representatives and the union leaders, and the hospital became operational. Those who did not get new contracts, the solution was to work their contentious issues from within, that is working and solving their impending problems out with the administration (Clarke & Higgs, 2019).
References
Carter, L., Sullivan, R., & Goldsmith, M. (2013). The change champion's field guide: Strategies and tools for leading change in your organization . San Francisco, CA: Wiley.
Clarke, N., & Higgs, M. (2019). Employee Participation in Change Programs. In R. Hamlin, A. Ellinger, & J. Jones (Eds.), Evidence-Based Initiatives for Organizational Change and Development (pp. 179-199). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-6155-2.ch009 Top of Form
Cohen, D. S. (2009). The heart of change field guide: Tools and tactics for leading change in your organization . Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press Bottom of Form