“Nothing is more permanent than change,” the old adage goes.

Yet for employees, nothing can be more harrowing than corporate culture change. The office environment usually breeds a culture of continuity and routine. Day-to-day tasks get repeated each day and employees tend to get comfortable with what they do because there is less room for mistakes, and familiarity gives them enough courage to fulfill their tasks without fear.

However, when a sudden, sweeping corporate culture change happens, people start fretting, even resisting the coming changes.

They lose focus at work. The said resistance springs from the employees’ perception that the adjustment that was introduced could possibly lead to failure, more work, or difficulties. An employee’s degree of resistance to change is directly related to the way they view the modification.

Will the newly instituted reforms result in better circumstances, or would it make work more difficult?  Many people find courage in familiarity and they panic every time they encounter uncertainty.

As a leader, your task is not just to institute corporate culture change – you should also address any ensuing resistance against it. Don’t take this advice wrong – you don’t have to terrorize your employees.

Instead, you need to implement reforms in a way that would minimize the employees’ fear and ensure that the changes would soon be accepted positively by the whole team.

Changes Can Take Many Forms

Instituting corporate culture change in your office can be experienced differently by each of your employees.

For example, upgrading the computer system in the office to the latest technology would be considered a boon by the younger segment of your workforce. However, older employees might not be that excited about such change.

The perception about the change that will be instituted really does matter. What you should be concerned is how employees would look at the change. Less so, on how the change will be good for you. Here are some sample situations wherein you can experience resistance, and how you can address them:

1. Promotions

While promoting employees usually entail positive feedback, the promoted employee might not be open to such change if he feels that the promotion would mean an additional burden and expectations for him. In such cases, try to introduce new responsibilities in a piece-meal manner, enabling the employee to adjust to his new post easier.

2.   Hiring of new employees 

Usually, tension strikes in the office when company management decides to hire new employees.

Old employees can feel intimidated by the newcomers, and newbies could feel daunted by their new co-workers. Your direct hand in the integration of new and old employees is essential to maintain good working relations.

3.   Lay–offs

When you start firing employees, a general notion of fear sweeps your whole team and this could affect productivity. An in-depth explanation of the lay-offs could ease the fear.

4.   Upgrading technology

When you upgrade equipment in the office, usually, the older employees get left out. Ensure that you provide ample training for everyone, so no one would feel left out.

Announce the upgrade a few weeks in advance to prepare everyone, especially staff who get somewhat “attached” to their workstation equipment.

5.   Changing the workflow

A change in the workflow is the most difficult corporate culture change that you can introduce, as it involves a lot of adjustments, especially when it comes to skills upgrading.

Retrain your staff and provide them with ample time to adjust under such circumstances.

The most important part of corporate culture change is ensuring that your employees understand why the change is happening.

The worst thing that you could do is to leave them in the dark and surprise them with the changes. Maintaining a good communication line between and among your employees is essential to battle resistance to change.