If an individual within an organization chooses to resist the changes because she/he believes they will negatively affect her/him or the organization, what then? Ideally, of course, there should be a line of communication that encourages the individual to express his or her concerns and contribute to the change process. Within many organizations that I have worked with, this element of the change process has not been there, whether it has been because the changes have happened too quickly, because the management has not known how to incorporate this into the process or because employees have avoided it.

Stress - it's unavoidable

My last observation is this: significant changes — even the best ones — will result in increased levels of stress among staff. By its very nature, a change will necessitate increased workload, risk, learning and uncertainty, even if only on a short-term basis. Under these circumstances, how can stress levels not increase?

A final thought

In putting these thoughts to paper — or keyboard — I have struggled to capture what I believe are my most relevant thoughts and ideas for this particular project. Indeed, I have only scratched the surface of the factors that cause each of us to react to changes.

On the following pages, I have tried to elucidate and complement my thoughts with a visual representation of an employee-centric model for managing change.