Employee Organisational Change Resistance Standpoints

“There are 3 groups of employees in any change journey: ‘Advocates’, ‘Observers,’ and ‘REBELs’. Each reacts differently to organisational change and will have different levels of resistance”

It doesn’t matter which continent I am working on: I typically encounter three employee change standpoints: Advocates, Observers, and REBELs. However, to successfully implement organisational change management, we must engage, communicate with, and entice these three employee groups to get buy-in, change adoption, and benefit realisation.

Advocates: They tend to embrace and lead change within the organisation as they are more comfortable with it. They have a positive and growth mindset and see this as an opportunity to grow and improve. The coalition of change agents and ‘Advocates’ can have a massive impact on the organisation, positively enticing other groups to adopt the change. Similar to the change agents, with their positivity towards change, their energy should be captured as they can play an effective role in leading and rolling out the change. The coalition of change agents and ‘Advocates’ can work together to lower resistance in the other groups.

Observers: Monitor the ‘Advocates’ and assess if the change is benefiting them. If this appears positive, they will tend to move towards being receptive to the change. The change agents and ‘Advocates’ should work together to create employee desire to move the ‘Observers’ towards the ‘Tipping Point’. Communication, direct engagement, targeted messaging, and events, such as socialising the future state, will help the ‘Observers’ to adopt the change at a faster rate.

REBELs: Tend to resist change blindly; sometimes this can be a natural reaction, even if the change is to their benefit. The default reaction is that change is a bad thing and will put them at a disadvantage. The change agent can help greatly in this area by directly engaging the ‘REBELs’ face-to-face. The change agent should listen with empathy to understand their concerns while communicating the organisation’s change business case. A typical question that comes up is about how much effort you spend on this group. The answer varies from organisation to organisation, with cultures and local laws all having an input and impact on the approach. Another complication is whether the change is about compliance or winning hearts and minds. However, as long as you have tried to understand the root cause of ‘REBEL’ resistance, you have respectfully engaged them and offered solutions by trying all the key tactics to reduce resistance. There might come a time when a difficult decision has to be made and some of the ‘REBELs’ can no longer be a part of the future ‘B’ state.

“Nothing negatively impacts organisational performance quicker than employees who resist change and who believe that the way they work today is the way they will work tomorrow”

Change Resistance - Employee Standpoints is part of Manage Resistance and the seventh step of the a2B Change Management Framework® (a2BCMF®).

Find out more:

Further Reading: Change Management Handbook - Leadership of Change Volume 3

Amazon:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Peter-F-Gallagher/e/B07P7NF6TP/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1 

#LeadershipofChange #Leadership #ChangeLeadership #GlobalGurus #ChangeManagement

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Peter consults, speaks, and writes on the Leadership of Change®.

He works exclusively with boards, CEOs, and senior leadership teams to prepare and align them to effectively and proactively lead their organisations through change and transformation.

For insights on navigating organisational change, feel free to reach out at Peter.gallagher@a2B.consulting or schedule a free consultation

Leadership of Change®

Change Management Body of Knowledge (CMBoK) Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, A, B, C, D & E

• Change Management Fables – Volume 1 

• Change Management Pocket Guide – Volume 2 

• Change Management Handbook – Volume 3 

• Change Management Leadership – Volume 4 

• Change Management Adoption – Volume 5 

• Change Management Behaviour – Volume 6

• Change Management Sponsorship – Volume 7 

• Change Management Charade – Volume 8

• Change Management Insanity – Volume 9

• Change Management Dilettante – Volume 10

• Change Management Gamification Leadership – Volume A 

• Change Management Gamification Adoption – Volume B 

• Change Management Gamification Behaviour – Volume C 

• Change Management Gamification Sponsorship – Volume D 

• Change Management Gamification Leadership Teams – Volume E 

Contact me to make a booking 

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Peter F. Gallagher is a leadership guru, change management global thought leader, organisational change authority, international corporate conference speaker, 15X author, and C-level change leadership coach.

Listed #1 by leadersHum Top 40 Change Management Gurus You Should Follow in 2022 (Mar 2022).

Ranked #1 Change Management Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Change Management (2024-2023-2022-2021-2020) by Thinkers360.

Listed #15 in the “Top 30” for Global Gurus Leadership (2024) by Global Gurus.

Ranked #1 Business Strategy Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Business Strategy (2022) by Thinkers360.

Ranked #6 Leadership Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Leadership (April 2024) by Thinkers360.

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