ve human beings behavior in jobs. Change is painful. When people are pushed to change, they push back. All changes, no matter how beneficial they may seem, cost someone something. Resistance to change is natural and inevitable. Two thirds of reengineering efforts fail due to peoples reluctance to go along and buy managements own ineptitude and fear. In order for change to take lace management must empower people and listen to their ideas. They must constantly communicate the companys goals and how they expect to achieve them. Management must also lead by example and be consistent. People will usually believe what they see and not what they hear. It is simpler to grasp and even champion these notions than it is to actually act on them. Unless decision-makers are willing to acknowledge the full range of reaction to change, reengineering is an interesting theory and nothing more (Fisher, 1995). BARRIERS TO CHANGE Although overcoming resistance is no easy task, recognizing the most common barriers to change can move things along. These barriers include: The element of surprise. Peoples first reaction to change is often resistance. Instead of surprising employees with a change initiative, management should involve them in the planning process. This will transform surprises into foregone conclusions (Armentrout, 1996). Fear of obsolescence. People may resist change that will make their skills and competencies obsolete. Implementing programs to retain workers for new jobs and helping them develop new skills will help management overcome this obstacle. This assurance will make employees more likely to support change (Armentrout, 1996). If it aint broke, dont fix it is often the battle cry of those who resist change. The fact of the matter is that many employees will not support a change until they clearly see the need for it. To combat this, start selling the benefits of a proposed change before you ask employees to implement it. When employees...
