IIM Indore EPGP 2010-2011
Prospective on Individual Dimensions
Attitude of Employees
towards Organizational 2010
Changes
Prof. P K Singh
Attitude of employees towards Organizational changes
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Submitted on 04-October-2010
Compiled by
Rajparikshit Moondra - 018epgp2010
Rejath M - 022epgp2010
Ruzman Basha Pothuganti - 025epgp2010
Sanjeev Kumar Kothari - 027epgp2010
Sudipto Banerjee -
035epgp2010
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Contents
1. Objective...........................................................................................................4
2. Why do employees resist Change?....................................................................5
3. Category of People based on attitude towards change.....................................7
3.1.1. The Rank and File..................................................................................7
3.1.2. The Resisters.........................................................................................9
3.1.3. The Change Agents...............................................................................9
4. Role of social values in attitudes.....................................................................10
5. Values across Cultures....................................................................................10
6. Case Studies....................................................................................................11
6.1.1. Case Study 1.......................................................................................12
6.1.2. Case Study 2 ......................................................................................13
7. How to build the “Whatever it takes” attitude in a team.................................14
8. Nine Strategies for Managers for creating positive attitudes about change....15
9. Sources and bibliography................................................................................17
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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
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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.
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.
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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?
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.
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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 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
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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
• 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
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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 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;
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• 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 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.
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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.
6. Case Studies
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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
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occupational stressors (apart from control and resources-communication)
were related to negative attitudes to change. In their attempt to
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.
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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.
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
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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.
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 meeting
4. Foster a culture of balance between personal life and
professional life
5. Foster a spirit of acknowledging a change
6. Accept the fact that “EVERY CHANGE IS AN OPPORTUNITY”
and align your team to this line of thought
7. 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”
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8. Circulate a daily positive quotation at the beginning of every day
9. 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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