Managing Resistance during a Change Process. Organizational Change in a Real Estate Company

In the twenty-first century change and how to lead it successfully has become a critical topic on the minds of organizational leaders. And that for a very good reason: In today’s turbulent environment, things rarely remain the same. Change is happening everywhere. Its speed and complexity are increasing and the future success of organizations depends on how good leaders are at leading change. Some of the major forces contributing to the necessity for change are globalization; open and dynamic market conditions, rapid technological improvement, cultural shifts but also the high expectations of customers.

In comparison to the past, we know much more today about change and how to successfully implement change management. Nevertheless, managers continue to make fundamental mistakes when they are trying to implement change. In too many cases the improvements have been poor with wasted resources and burned-out, scared and frustrated employees and turmoil in the culture of organizations. People are creatures of habit and when they get into a routine, they don’t necessarily want to change for the sake of change – especially when something is taken away from them that they are used to. When confronted with change, the tendency to respond to it is resistance as they often feel insecure about a new situation and may have fears, such as of the unknown, of losing their job or others.

Sustaining change requires fundamental shift of thinking, and effective communication is considered as highly important during a change process. It is the instrument for announcing, explaining and preparing the people involved for both the positive and negative impact of implementing change in order to help people understand the need for change. This can increase the commitment to change as well as avoid confusion among employees.