Organisational Culture and Responses for Resistance to Change

Question: Discuss about theOrganisational Culture and Responses for Resistance to Change. Answer: Introduction The organizational culture is a framework which has been practiced within the organization which involves a shared belief, values, norms etc. The organizational culture would shape the behaviour of the employees within the organization and can enhance their potential to yield results. Some of the elements of culture which are observable include the practices, languages and symbols. Some other factors which are not observable include the norms, values and assumptions. The shared assumptions and beliefs within the organization will make the employees to view a particular situation in the same perspective and will enhance coordination. This would make the goal achievement process much easier. Through sharing the values and norms the organization culture is making the employees to share the preferences, behaviour, moral, customs etc (Mills, Mills, 2017). The organizational culture supports shared values and behaviour but also restricts some taboos like the culturally forbidden activities within the organization. This makes the employees aware that what has to be practiced within the organization and what not to be. Hence the organization culture can contribute in the maintenance of the discipline within the organization. In the modern business environment almost all the business organizations holds an effective and well defined organizational culture which would make them to practice their vision, mission, and objectives effectively. Through a effective organizational culture the employees can be motivated, encouraged, spread respect and recognition, avoid discrimination, enhance the potential of the employees, enhance the employee loyalty etc (Dubey et al, 2017). When relating the organizational culture to the organizational change management, it plays a vital role in implementing changes within the organization. In the business world the change is mandatory and the organizations will have to accept it for its survival and sustainability. Due to the continuous changes in the technology, customer preferences, the changes in the competitors strategy etc it is essential that organization should also make necessary changes in their strategy in order to gain competitive advantage. In almost all organizations the organization culture is developed in such as manner that it has specific tools and techniques to implement the changes in the organization effectively (Lau et al, 2017). When the organization change is taken into consideration the most challenging factor which the HRM would have to face is the employees resistance to change. The employee resistance to change can be considered as an emotional and the behavioural responses of the employees by considering various internal and external factors. They could imagine some threat associated with the new change and could restrict them to get adapted to that change. This can be considered as a major challenge for the organization which can directly impact the profitability, performance, competitive advantage and the sustainability of the organization. Hence it is essential that the management should respond to this resistance to change appropriately to avoid the negative impact (Lee, Kramer, 2016). Some of the primary reasons behind the resistance of change are discussed here. Loss of status or job security: The organizational changes sometimes trigger the job security of the employees. Due to the changes in the organizational structure some employees may lose their job or can lose their job position. This can be considered as a reason for the employee resistance to change. Some employees or manager can also lose their authority which can also make them to resist against the changes. Non-reinforcing the rewarding system: The employees resist changing when there is no positive reinforcement in the organizational culture. Only if the positive behaviours are encouraged or rewarded it would be repeated. When the HRM fails to respond properly or positively to the effort taken by the employees to change, the employees interest to take effort to change would reduce and hence can resist to get adapt to the changes in the future (Yousef, 2017). Fear of failure: The changes in the organization in terms of technology, operations etc can put the employees into a doubt that whether they can win through adopting the new practice. This doubt can eliminate the self confidence within the employees which can resist them to take actions to adopt the new change. Under such circumstances the employees may oppose to take up the changes and also resist considering the potential benefits of the change that can bring on him. Peer pressure or poor group dynamics: The group dynamics can play an important role or can influence the employee behaviour towards the change in a large extent. If the group members have a negative opinion about the change then it can be reflected on the individual also. Under some situations the criticism of the peers can also eliminate the self confidence of the employee and can restrict himself to take the new change as a challenge (Kuusela, Keil, Maula, 2017). Breaking of the routines: Through adopting the new change the daily routine of the employee would be get affected. This can make the employee unpleasant and can contribute to the resistance of changes. Response towards the employee resistance change The organization culture can respond to this resistance of the employees to get adapted to the changes in a diplomatic manner. Some of the external and the internal factors which the organizational culture can consider for responding to the resistance to the change are discussed here. Internal environmental factors Setting up SMART objectives: The organization culture can respond to the resistance of the changes through setting SMART objectives. The specific, measurable, achievable, reachable and time bound objective for the implementation of the changes will provide a clarity in the employees about the need, outcome and the benefit of the changes to the employees and the organization. This understanding can reduce ambiguity, fear etc and enhance confidence in the employees and will make them ready to adopt changes (Clegg, Matos, 2017). Effective Conflict management: An organizational culture with effective conflict management will enable the management to listen to the issues and fear of the employees regarding the change and can adopt various strategies to overcome those resistances to the change. Empowering and Encouraging: Empowering the employees to make appropriate decisions in relation to the adaptation to the new change will make them self responsible and motivated. Seeking the employee opinions can make them privileged and can motivate them to go forward with the changes. Recognizing and encouraging the efforts taken by the employees for getting adapted to the changes can persuade them to take more effort and accept the changes in all manners. An effective organizational culture always focuses on encouraging and empowering (Bridges, Bridges, 2017). Training and development: An effective organizational culture believes in the provision of the periodic training and development for enhancing the potential of the employees. Similarily in the case of the organizational change the training and development can develop the employees knowledge and potential towards the changes and can hence enhance the confidence in them. This will reduce fear, lack of confidence, fear of status, etc which are the main factors influencing the employee behaviour towards the change. Incentives and compensation: Only if the employees are provided with enough compensation and incentives they will be motivated towards the goal achievement. Hence in case of the organizational change also rewarding can be an effective method of responding to the resistance to the change of the employees. Through this the employees will get motivated to take up new changes and experiment on it how it can be accomplished effectively. Monetary and non-monetary rewards can serve the purpose of overcoming the resistance to the change (Jabbarian, Chegini, 2017). External environmental factors Career Growth: The organizational culture can respond to the resistance of change through highlighting the career growth which the employees can experience when they go out of the organization. Through making them understand about the development and growth which the employees can gain through accepting this change can motivate them to adapt the change and implement if effectively. Career development will be the ultimate aim of the employees. If they recognize that through accepting the change they can get updated with the external environment requirements and competition then the resistance would get eliminated (Ybema, Horvers, 2017). Competitive advantage of the organization: The organization culture can arrange sessions which explains the requirement of the change for the organization to be competitive in the market. The management should make the employee to understand how critical the change for the organization and for its sustainability is. This can motivate them being a loyal employee (Mathews et al, 2016). Customer requirement: Reflecting and highlighting the customer requirements and preferences and mentioning the change is mandatory to make the customer satisfied can motivate the employees to take up the change. Through making the requirement and purpose of change clear would reduce ambiguity and hence the resistance can be eliminated (Bravo, Matute, Pina, 2017). Conclusion Organizational culture is an important component of the organization which makes it operate towards its success. An effective organizational culture would enhance the performance level of the employees as well as that of the organization. The organization culture could also contribute to the elimination of the employee resistance to the organizational changes. The effective organization culture can respond to the employee resistance to change positively and can make them adapted to the changes through various strategies. 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