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Deliverable 5 - Barriers to Change

Name

Institution

Date
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Deliverable 5 - Barriers to Change

As Delta Pacific Company's (DPC) change manager, it is my responsibility to identify

any organizational obstacles that would prevent the company from achieving its aim

of shifting its culture from a more conventional manufacturing setting to a modern

consulting environment. Change is difficult, and by recognizing the obstacles to

change management, any firm may develop effective methods for detecting and

bringing about change. Giving up the old organizational structure can be tough for

employees since change is stressful. A baseline assessment is a common procedure

that will assist any company in identifying real and potential change barriers.

Obstacles and unwillingness to change can result in failure or subpar performance.

A more desirable outcome will arise from anticipating these obstacles and objections

and putting strategies in place to overcome them in the context of the change project

(Al-Alawi et al., 2019). Financial losses, decreased productivity and performance,

decreased quality of work, wastage of time and resources, failure to retain workers,

increased employee sickness, low staff morale, and negative effect on clients and

suppliers are just a few outcomes of failed transformation programs (Al-Alawi et al.,

2019). If barriers and resistant behaviors are recognized and planned for, such

consequences can be avoided. Leadership seems to focus on people when considering

transitional barriers, but there may also be barriers related to organizational or

structural concerns. The type of change, money, company divisions, culture,

structures, and processes are only a few examples of organizational hurdles.

Resistance to change is a potential organizational obstacle that is most likely to appear

for this type of change (Murrar & Brauer, 2019). Organizational learning is frequently

impeded by resistance to change. Learning new procedures can be challenging for

people who have been at their professions for a long time and are used to doing things
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a certain way. People may oppose change in two ways: directly, as by utilizing their

political influence, or indirectly, like by acting passively aggressively. Each group

will better understand the new strategy if it is explained in a language that they can all

understand. The new company strategy's objective must be understood by everyone in

the organization. To make a difference, start the training by outlining the necessity of

the change and its advantages to the trainees. Additionally, I advise linking the change

to other concerns that the employees have, such as how it relates to concerns about

their health, job security, and other things that are already on their thoughts.

Ineffective planning for culture shifts is another possible organizational impediment.

Change in an organization is likely to fail or result in more issues than benefits

without careful planning. You must comprehend precisely what adjustments will be

made and how they will be made. To ensure that all responsibilities are met, you

should also designate roles to those who are responsible for the change. An essential

element is the change's timeline. Understanding that the organization must not ignore

the feelings of the employees will help you get through this obstacle (Murrar &

Brauer, 2019). The company must take all necessary measures to avoid ingrained

grudges, which typically develop as a result of disregard for workplace customs. My

suggestion is to choose a team of change agents from basic roles to assist with

managing strategy and putting change into action. Try to identify one individual from

each group who speaks up and expresses the concerns of others.

For organizations that are unaware of their current situation, change is never easy. It

will be challenging to get to a future state if you try to propose and implement change

without completing an evaluation and comprehending the current organizational plan

(Bögel et al., 2019). By failing to examine the current organization's blueprint before

introducing a change, it will create a barrier to the change. Before making an attempt
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to introduce a change, the company must examine and comprehend the current

organizational structure in its entirety. I advise setting up a least of four significant

benchmarks and objectives to gauge progress during the transformation. It is simpler

to plan and transition to a future state once you have read through the blueprint and

properly understood it.

Organization complexity is the final potential organizational obstacle.

Complex processes, goods, and systems are among the complexity that contribute to

change obstacles since they are frequently very challenging for organization

employees to comprehend (Kiesnere & Baumgartner, 2019). Communicating a

complex change in a way that all employees can understand requires communicating

in their respective languages.

Since not all departments have the same aim, inform each department of their tasks

and goals in a suitable voice. By tackling organizational fast growth change with a

rigorous, high-quality, and skilled approach, this obstacle can be removed. I advise

against providing employees with an excessive amount of information. Your training

programs and materials should be made simpler to ensure that your employees receive

the information they require in a convenient way.

As a change agent, it is also my duty to take into account employee resistance to the

organizational culture shift and human barriers to change. An employee may oppose

change in an organization for a variety of reasons (Murrar & Brauer, 2019). Several

factors contribute to the resistance to change, including specific personalities, internal

politics, fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of loss, and fear of relationship

disturbance. Employees who are afraid of losing concern that they will lose their jobs

when the company changes. Employees may not be in favor of the move since they

lack the confidence to handle a heavier workload. A fear of failure may result from an
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increased workload or new job duties brought on by organizational changes. Concern

for the deterioration of relationships is another illustration. Many professionals value

their interactions with coworkers and customers on both a social and professional

level. Change undoubtedly has an impact on both kinds of relationships.

The importance of organizational innovation for profitability, lead times, creativity,

consistency, originality, and versatility must be understood by employees, according

to numerous efficiency studies (Murrar & Brauer, 2019). Cultural differences and

employee resistance can be overcome with the use of communication, confidence,

urgency, and setting a good example. Beginning the change program with

communication will reduce tension, aid staff in understanding why change is

necessary, and aid leadership in learning what the staff wants. Consider employee

feedback constructively and use it as a chance to improve your progress-making

efforts or reduce staff worry. By keeping staff members informed of the progress of

the strategy, you may help them get ready for the shift.

Positive change requires trust between the workforce and the leadership (Orji, 2019).

If the personnel believes that the leadership is more suitable for them, the

administration may encounter far less resistance from the workforce. Trust would also

motivate management to exert control over employees, if necessary. Just a little

resistance to the status quo should disappear due to a sense of urgency. Workers are

more willing to comply with change if they understand how important it is to the

organization's survival.

A lot of this tension will disappear during the cycle of transformation with clear

communication (Kiesnere & Baumgartner, 2019). Employees will only show

resistance when their leadership is far away and in a position of immense authority,

according to the theory that management knows best.

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Employees may believe that they must follow instructions verbatim without

questioning them or believing that their thoughts and opinions count. Workers that

engage in resistance activity question why management is implementing reform

because they believe the status quo is ideal. From the employee's perspective,

everything will be ideal (Orji, 2019).

Change is difficult, but it will be simple to put the change into action after you

comprehend and handle these challenges. Your change management plan can help

you address doubts and concerns more successfully if you anticipate opposition to

change from the beginning. The business should encourage employee participation,

support, and communication in order to handle change (Kiesnere & Baumgartner,

2019). All organizations must undergo change in order to improve. Change is shifting

from one position to another for the organization's benefit.

DPC can plan ahead and get around objections if it has a comprehensive awareness of

probable hurdles. Finally, this will move Delta Pacific Company's change program

toward success.
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References

Al-Alawi, A. I., Abdulmohsen, M., Al-Malki, F. M., & Mehrotra, A. (2019).

Investigating the barriers to change management in public sector

educational institutions. International Journal of Educational

Management, 33(1), 112-148. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijem-03-2018-0115

Bögel, P., Pereverza, K., Upham, P., & Kordas, O. (2019). Linking socio-

technical transition studies and organisational change management: Steps

towards an integrative, multi-scale heuristic. Journal of Cleaner

Production, 232, 359-368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.286

Kiesnere, A., & Baumgartner, R. (2019). Sustainability management in practice:

Organizational change for sustainability in smaller large-sized companies

in Austria. Sustainability, 11(3), 572. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030572

Murrar, S., & Brauer, M. (2019). Overcoming resistance to change: Using

narratives to create more positive intergroup attitudes. Current Directions

in Psychological Science, 28(2), 164-169.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721418818552

Orji, I. J. (2019). Examining barriers to organizational change for sustainability

and drivers of sustainable performance in the metal manufacturing

industry. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 140, 102-114.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.08.005