attitude of employees towards organizational changes

IIM Indore EPGP 2010-2011

Prospective on Individual Dimensions

Prof. P K Singh

Submitted on 04-October-2010

Attitude of Employees towards Organizational Changes

2010

Compiled by

Rajparikshit Moondra - 018epgp2010

Rejath M - 022epgp2010

Ruzman Basha Pothuganti - 025epgp2010

Sanjeev Kumar Kothari - 027epgp2010

Sudipto Banerjee - 035epgp2010

Attitude of employees towards Organizational changes

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Contents

1. Objective........................................................................................................................................3

2. Why do employees resist Change?................................................................................................4

3. Category of People based on attitude towards change.................................................................5

3.1.1. The Rank and File..........................................................................................................53.1.2. The Resisters.................................................................................................................73.1.3. The Change Agents........................................................................................................7

4. Role of social values in attitudes....................................................................................................8

5. Values across Cultures...................................................................................................................8

6. Case Studies.................................................................................................................................10

6.1.1. Case Study 1................................................................................................................106.1.2. Case Study 2................................................................................................................11

7. How to build the “Whatever it takes” attitude in a team............................................................11

8. Nine Strategies for Managers for creating positive attitudes about change................................13

9. Sources and bibliography.............................................................................................................14

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1. Objective

As the economy of the world, at large, grows there is an ever growing need for the organizations to adopt change(s) in order to survive. However, the change in organizations cannot be implemented overnight and in isolation, because organizations are inherently social systems and invariably the primary victims of change are people-employees, their families and stakeholders and the society at large. So, for successful management of change one has to be aware of how these changes affect the people, and how successful the changes will be given the attitudes, emotions and social values of people.

In this article we primarily concentrate on the aspect that is always at the heart of an organizational change – attitude. It is the collective attitude in an organization that governs the response to change and eventually becomes instrumental in deciding the seamless implementation of the same.

Attitudes are either favourable or unfavourable evaluative statements concerning objects, people, or events. They reflect how one feel about something. Attitudes are not the same as values, but they are interrelated. You can see this by looking at three components of an attitude: cognition, effect, and behaviour.

The belief that "discrimination is wrong" is a value statement. Such an opinion is the cognitive component of an attitude. It sets the stage for the more critical part of an attitude - its affective component. Affect is the emotional or feeling segment of an attitude and is reflected in the statement, "I don't like Jon because he discriminates against minorities." The behavioural component of an attitude refers to an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something. So, to continue our example, I might choose to avoid from Jon because of my feeling about him.

Of the thousands of attitudes one can have, we focus on very limited job-related attitudes. These job-related attitudes tap positive or negative evaluations that employees hold about aspects of their work environment. The attitudes: job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment.

Research has generally concluded that people seek consistency among their attitudes and between their attitudes and behaviour. This means that individuals seek to reconcile divergent attitudes and align their attitudes and behaviour so they appear rational and consistent. When there is an inconsistency, forces are initiated to return the individual to an equilibrium state to which attitudes and behaviour are again consistent. This can be done by altering either the attitudes or the behaviour, or by developing a rationalization for the discrepancy.

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The people in organizations have identities, relationships, communities, attitudes, emotions, and differentiated powers. So when you try to change any part of the system, all of these factors come into play, adding many layers of complexity to a change process.

2. Why do employees resist Change?

Attitude of an employee leads to 3 different kinds of questions in his or her mind related to organisation level changes.

1. For an employee basic tasks and performance requirements for a job are defined by company documents such as job descriptions, employment contracts, and performance agreements. In return for the commitment to perform, managers convey the authority and resources each individual needs, to do his or her job. What isn’t explicitly committed to in writing is usually agreed to orally. From an employee’s point of view, personal commitment to the organization comes from finding the answers to the following series of questions:

• What am I supposed to do for the organization related to this change?

• Will my job change in the first place?

• How and when will my performance be evaluated, and what form will the feedback take?

• What will I be paid, and how will pay relate to my performance evaluation?

Companies may differ in their approach to answering those questions or may even neglect these questions assuming that the answers to these are implicitly known by employees, but most have policies and procedures that provide direction and guidelines to managers and employees. Nevertheless, it does not ensure that employees will be satisfied with their jobs or that they will make the personal commitment managers expect. Unfortunately, many managers stop here when anticipating how change will affect employees and do not think it necessary to take the communication to the next level.

2. Managers expect employees to be loyal and willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done, and they routinely make observations and assumptions about the kind of commitment their employees display. The terms of a job description rarely capture the importance of commitment, but employees’ attitude reflects their awareness of it.

Employees determine their commitment to the organization by asking:

• How hard will I really have to work due to this change?

• What recognition, financial reward, or other personal satisfaction will I get for my efforts?

• Are the rewards worth it?

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Individuals formulate responses to those questions in large part by evaluating their relationship with their boss. Their loyalty and commitment is closely connected to their belief in their manager’s willingness to recognize a job well done, and not just with more money.

In the context of a major change program, a manager’s sensitivity to this dimension of his or her relationship with subordinates is crucial to gaining commitment to new goals and performance standards.

3. Employees note what the company says about its values in its mission statement and observe the interplay between company practices and management’s attitude toward them. Perceptions about the company’s main goals are tested when employees evaluate the balance between financial and non-financial objectives, and when they determine whether management practices what it preaches. They translate those perceptions about values into beliefs about how the company really works—about the unspoken rules that apply to career development, promotions, decision making, conflict resolution, resource allocation, risk sharing, and layoffs. An employee tries to answer these specific questions:

• Are my values similar to those of others after the change in the organization?

• What are the real rules that determine who gets what in this company after this change?

Alignment between a company’s statements and management’s behaviour is the key to creating a context that evokes employee attitude towards organisation level commitment.

3. Category of People based on attitude towards change

The three sets of people based on what attitude they exhibit during change initiatives are

The rank and file,

The resisters, and

the Change agents

Each has unique characteristics, and their attitudes are also different to change.

3.1.1. The Rank and File

These are the people who follow trails that are familiar, comfortable, safe, and satisfying. Doing so they develop routines which apply at work as well and they aren’t eager to change unless given compelling reasons to do so. People also have “social routines” at work—associations with co-workers that satisfy their needs as social animals—and changes that

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impinge on those routines are equally unwelcome. Occasional diversions from routines and existing social patterns add variety and interest—which please everyone. But diversions may also create tension, anxiety, discomfort, and even fear. There are other individuals who are absolutely energized by change. The Myers-Briggs personality framework addresses this broad spectrum. At one end of the spectrum, for example, it describes a person who likes a planned and organized approach to life (a “judging” person). He or she likes things settled. At the other end of the spectrum is the “perceiving” person who prefers open options and a flexible and spontaneous approach to life. There will people representing both types in an organization.

Discovery Learning, Inc. of Reensboro, North Carolina, has developed a helpful methodology for measuring an individual’s disposition to change, indicating where that person is likely to fall on a “preferred style” continuum. In their model, “Conservers” occupy one end of the continuum. Conservers are people who prefer current circumstances over the unknown—people who are more comfortable with gradual change than with anything radical. Occupying the opposite end of the spectrum are the “Originators” who prefer more rapid and radical change.“Originators are representative of the reengineering approach to change,” according to Discovery Learning. “The goal of an Originator is to challenge existing structure, resulting in fast, fundamentally different, even systemic changes.” Occupying a middle position between these two extremes are the “Pragmatists” who support change when it clearly addresses current challenges. Pragmatists are less wedded to the existing structure than to structures that are likely to be successful

Discovery Learning generalizes the characteristics of people who represent these three change style preferences

When Facing Change, Conservers:

• Generally appear deliberate, disciplined, and organized

• Prefer change that maintains current structure

• May operate from conventional assumptions

• Enjoy predictability

• May appear cautious and inflexible

• May focus on details and the routine

• Honour tradition and established practice

When Facing Change, Pragmatists:

• May appear practical, agreeable, flexible

• Prefer change that emphasizes workable outcomes

• Are more focused on results than structure

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• Operate as mediators and catalysts for understanding

• Are open to both sides of an argument

• May take more of a middle-of-the-road approach

• Appear more team-oriented

When Facing Change, Originators:

• May appear unorganized, undisciplined, unconventional, and spontaneous

• Prefer change that challenges current structure

• Enjoy risk and uncertainty

• May be impractical and miss important details

• May appear as visionary and systemic in their thinking

• Can treat accepted policies and procedures with little regard

3.1.2. The Resisters

Some people clearly enjoy advantages that they view as threatened by change. They may perceive change as endangering their livelihoods, their perks, their workplace social arrangements, or their status in the organization. Others know that their specialized skills will be rendered less valuable. Any time people perceive themselves as losers in a change initiative, expect resistance. Resistance may be passive, in the form of noncommitment to the goals and the process for reaching them, or active, in the form of direct opposition or subversion.

Active Resisters

Active Resisters will go to any extent to subvert and damage the change process. They will be the biggest resistors to change. They will be open and vociferous to change and identifying them will be easy in an organisation as they will for groups and teams to act against the change and will spread negative messages so that the change gets sabotaged.

Passive Resisters

Passive resisters frustrate managers. While they don’t sabotage the program, they certainly don’t help the initiative move forward. The reason that a person won’t change is that he or she has a “competing commitment”—a subconscious, hidden goal that conflicts with the stated commitment.

3.1.3. The Change Agents

Every change that happened in this world had someone who thought differently. None of the person who went for change began with serious resources or backing, all were

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outsiders, and all faced substantial opposition. All were what we call change agents. Change agents are catalysts who get the ball rolling, even if they do not necessarily do most of the pushing. They help others to see what the problems are, and convince them to grapple with them. Change Agents are the ones who :

• articulate the need for change;

• are accepted by others as trustworthy and competent (people must accept the messenger before they accept the message);

• see and diagnose problems from the perspective of their audience;

• motivate people to change;

• work through others in translating intent into action;

• stabilize the adoption of innovation; and

• foster self-renewing behaviour in others so that they can “go out of business” as change agents.

4. Role of social values in attitudes

A significant portion of social values we hold is established in our early years-- from parents, teachers, friends, and others. In order to understand the attitude of people towards change one has to ruminate over social values, which generally influence attitudes and behaviour. Values are classified as terminal - goals that a person would like to achieve during his or her life time (ex: peace of mind, social recognition etc.) and instrumental - means of achieving the terminal values (ex: forgiving, responsible etc.).

5. Values across Cultures

Managers have to become capable of working with people from different cultures. Because values differ across cultures, an understanding of these differences should be helpful in explaining and predicting behaviour of employees from different countries. It has found that managers and employees vary on five value dimensions of national culture.

1. Power distance. The degree to which people in a country accept that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally. It ranges from relatively equal (low power distance) to extremely unequal (high power distance).

For Ex: In cultures with small power distance (e.g. Australia, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand), people expect and accept power relations that are more consultative or democratic. People relate to one another more as equals regardless of formal positions. In cultures with large power distance (e.g. Malaysia), the less powerful accept power relations

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia


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that are autocratic or paternalistic. Subordinates acknowledge the power of others based on their formal, hierarchical positions. However, the more the gap in power structure, the higher the separation of employees in organizations. This separation in turn creates trust deficit among the employees in the organization. So, any change in the organization is viewed critically and is always resisted through unions.

2. Individualism versus collectivism. Individualism is the degree to which people in a country prefer to act as individuals rather than members of groups. Collectivism is the equivalent of low individualism.

Ex: This point can be illustrated using unions. In an organisation if unions are prevalent the idea of change is discouraged and opposed at each level if it is perceived as a destabilising factor.

3. Quantity of life versus quality of life. Quantity of life is the degree to which values such as assertiveness, the acquisition of money and material goods, and competition prevail. Quality of life is the degree to which people value relationships, and show sensitivity and concern for the welfare of others.

For example, in globalization, the organizations always face the need to transfer employees from one geographical location to another. In such a scenario, the need to transfer a group of individuals from different countries such as India, Australia and etc may be opposed by Indians as they culturally believe in being associated with families and taking care of their parents.

4. Uncertainty avoidance. The degree to which people in a country prefer structured over unstructured situations. In countries that score high on uncertainty avoidance, people have an increased level of anxiety, which manifests itself in greater nervousness, stress, and aggressiveness. In cultures with weak uncertainty avoidance, people prefer implicit or flexible rules or guidelines and informal activities. Employees tend to change employers more frequently.

Ex: The recent trend in software industry is a clear example of weak uncertainty avoidance. Given an opportunity, employees prefer flexible rules with respect to working hours, work from home option. Also due to multiple career options available, employee attrition rate is high in the industry. This kind of scenario is a win-win situation for employers and for employees to implement change with minimum cost and minimum disruption to the organizational setting.

5. Long-term versus short-term orientation. People in cultures with long-term orientations look to the future and value thrift and persistence. A short-term orientation values the past and present, and emphasize respect for tradition and fulfilling social obligations.

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6. Case Studies

6.1.1. Case Study 1

Purpose

Occupational stress and organizational change are now widely accepted as two major issues in organizational life. The current study explores the linkage between employees’ attitudes towards organizational change

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 292 employees from various Greek organizations participated in the current study; 119 (41.8 per cent) were males and 166 (58.2 per cent) were females. The majority of the participants were between 37 and 55 years of age (53.3 per cent) or 21 to 36 years old (38.6 per cent). A total of 145 of them (51.6 per cent) were employed in clerical-secretarial positions, 38 (13.5 per cent) in technical/professional positions, 25 (9 per cent) in managerial positions and finally 20 (7.1 per cent) were employed in supervisory positions. The remaining, were employed in skilled-manual and sales or marketing positions. A total of 154 (54.4 per cent) were married, 24 (8.5 per cent) lived with their partner, and 82 (29 per cent) were single. Regarding their educational background, 69 (24 per cent) were high-school graduates, 35 (12.2 per cent) had graduated from a college or further education institute, 133 of them (46.2 per cent) were university graduates, and 39 (13.5 per cent) had postgraduate degrees.

Participants completed a self-report questionnaire pack, which incorporated the measures of attitudes to change and occupational stress. In addition, personal and demographic data relating to age, gender, marital status and educational background were also collected. Half of the individuals completed the attitudes to change measure first and half second, in order to control for order effect.

Attitudes to change. Attitudes to change were measured with the Attitudes to Change Questionnaire (ACQ) developed by Vakola et al. (2003). The scale consists of 29 items (14 positive and 15 negative), and asks from the participants to rate the extent to which they agree with each item on a five-point scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). A typical item of the positive attitude scale is: “I am looking forward to changes within my work environment”. An example of a negative item is: “When a new organizational change programme is initiated, I emphatically show my disagreement”. The negatively stated items were reversed so that a high score to indicate positive attitudes towards organizational change.

The analysis of the results confirms a relationship between occupational stress and attitudes towards organizational change. Almost all occupational stressors (apart from control and resources-communication) were related to negative attitudes to change. In their attempt to

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successfully cope with continuous changes in their business environment, organizations frequently embark on planned change interventions. The current research findings highlight the need for acknowledging the significant effect of occupational stress on employees’ attitudes towards organizational change.

Results

The results were in the expected direction showing negative correlations between occupational stressors and attitudes to change, indicating that highly stressed individuals demonstrate decreased commitment and increased reluctance to accept organizational change interventions. The most significant impact on attitudes to change was coming from bad work relationships emphasizing the importance of that occupational stressor on employees’ attitudes towards change.

6.1.2. Case Study 2

Purpose

To Study the effect of attitude on the working efficiency in manufacturing company i.e turnover and absenteeism.

Design/methodology/approach

Two Manufacturing mills with different Organization environment were studied. The mills were classified as high tension and low tension on the basis of employee attitude. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire pack, which incorporated the measures of attitudes to change and occupational stress. In addition, personal and demographic data relating to age, gender, marital status and educational background were also collected.

On Analysis of various factors It was found that low tension mill was lower in absenteeism (9 %) and turnover (10.9%) and higher in efficiency (77.5%) as compared to the high –tension mill with (10.5%) absenteeism, (32.8%) Turnover and (73.4%) efficiency rating. It was further noted that efficiency, damages and worker behaviour in two units of the same mill were affected by the nature of supervision.

Results

The results were in the expected direction showing Attitude is positively associated with working efficiencies and job satisfaction reduces absenteeism.

7. How to build the “Whatever it takes” attitude in a team

Having the right team with the right attitude makes it easy for organizations to manage a smooth change and enhance the adaptability of the organization top change.

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Teams should think of a change as an opportunity. At times our vision is unclear with respect to hidden opportunities behind all changes. The general tendency of individuals is usually to flow with the flow. But this line of thought refutes the truth that kites always fly high against the wind. We make changes and take risks all our lives-driving on the freeway, starting relationships, switching careers, moving to new jobs. If one is not making changes and taking risks in some aspect of life, one is probably in a rut. So is the case with a team- if a team does not take changes in its fold, it keeps gravitating towards a rut.

In his famous book ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING, Keith Harrell advices employees to always be on the alert for a change. He tries to drive home the fact that a change is one of the few constants we have in this world. He strongly believes that an employee should adopt the attitude that ‘CHANGE IS TO BE EXPECTED’. He strongly believes that if one just convinces oneself that change is inseparable one is a lot better at dealing with it. Therefore it becomes highly necessary for managers to start taking steps to always keep team members aware that a change MAY BE COMING!

Another constant change that many people find difficulty dealing with is one that happens gradually but seems to happen overnight-aging. One fine morning an employee wakes up and finds a few more grey hairs and realizes she has suddenly become much older. Not all employees will react to this change in the same way-some will accept this gracefully and some others may become bitter, fearful and withdrawn. Research says that people who have a very strong inclination towards a personal interest will find it very easy to cope with changes in age. In one of the previous companies of one of our colleagues, there was this manager who had established culture of a weekend meet for his team members. Every member would invest at least two hours into pursuing his or her hobby and discuss the same with his or her colleague. The team currently has members for as long as ten years now whereas the average retention in teams is a dismal three years in the organization. The team has successfully implemented more than fifty projects in a span of ten years as against the industry average of twenty. Clearly the team was adept in managing change at work. The mantra is to “ENJOY BEING OLD”. As the team members say “The more we grow old the more creative we become and the more we revel in our small achievements.”

In our current age of mergers and acquisitions, with each shift in the corporate culture, employees face changes that affect them personally and professionally. It helps to understand what one is going through when faced with change. Otherwise one may find oneself swept up emotionally and mentally and wondering what hit one. The key in such situations is just to ‘OVERCOME ANY FEAR’. The best way would be to understand the change – its objective, and then to try and assess oneself in the long run after the change. A distant picture of the settings around one becomes clear when one starts assessing ones priorities and objectives in the light of the change. This best helps one align oneself with the change. It automatically dawns upon one as to what would be the imminent measures one needs to take to align towards the change.

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8. Nine Strategies for Managers for creating positive attitudes about change

1. Set the tone for the day by creating a plan for the day and motivating team members to abide by the plan

2. Schedule periodic meetings to pause and reflect on milestones achieved as against milestones set

3. Keep revisiting long term goals in every team meeting4. Foster a culture of balance between personal life and professional life5. Foster a spirit of acknowledging a change6. Accept the fact that “EVERY CHANGE IS AN OPPORTUNITY” and align your team to

this line of thought7. Motivate the team to tackle the change as a challenge by saying: “The ultimate

measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort but what he does at the time of challenge”

8. Circulate a daily positive quotation at the beginning of every day9. Foster a culture of trust and togetherness in the organization or team by engaging

members in team building activities- this helps in accepting a change together because if people think they all are sailing in the same boat, they usually think twice before shying away from a change

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9. Sources and bibliography

Organizational Behavior

- Stephen P. Robins

Studies About The Influence Of The Attitude Towards Change Work In A Modern Organizations

- Dr. Eng & Ec. George Bălan and Dr. Eng. & Ec. Mihail Aurel Ţîţu

Attitudes towards organizational change

- Maria Vakola and Ioannis Nikolaou

Attitudes Toward Organizational Change: Effects of Self-Interest, Competitive Values, and Ethnicity

- Chao C. Chen, Nancy DiTomaso, and George F. Farris

Managing Change and Transition

– Harvard Business School Press

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attitude of employees towards organizational changes

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