Resistance to Change

Change refers to making something different from the past or the old position and cope with the unknown situation. Resistance is defined as a force that slows or stops the movement of improving. It is an unavoidable response to any major change. Individuals naturally rush to protect the status quo when they perceive their security or status has been threatened. Resistance to change is the action taken by individuals and groups when they perceive that a change is occurring as a threat to them. Resistance to change is viewed as a destructive force that will affect the organizational interests. This is the reason why resistance to change is always seen as negative. The managers become frustrated when their own goals which have been set are not being achieved because of their employees resist to change. They are unwilling to accept the unavoidable of the imminent development in the organization. Those employees resist organizational change due to their selfishness, misunderstanding, distrust and a general intolerance for change. The people resist change out of selfishness because they believe they will lose something they value particularly when they experience poorer working conditions, lower salary, fewer privileges and bonuses, lower status in the organization, a loss of identity and even loss of their jobs. Besides that, people also resist change because of misunderstanding in the change and distrust to the other people. They don’t understand the important of change in the organization and they also distrust the people who inspire them to change. Resistance may also come from a generally low tolerance for change. People with low tolerance for change will worry about that they won’t be able to learn or control the new skills or technologies that needed to improve the company. Furthermore, workers resist change because of dislike of the organization change and discomfort with uncertainty. They simply do not want to change because they get use to doing the old ways