How Organizations Can Help Their Employees Navigate Change at Work
By Lauren Apicella and Jeff Pool
Any change begins with an ending or a loss.[1] To move forward, individuals must let go of the previous state to accept and adopt the new one. However, if an organization fails to address the associated loss (and resulting grief) properly, the change will deeply impact its employees. Employee stress from change can result in resistance, turnover, disengagement, absenteeism, [and] error rates.[2] These emotional states may lead to impaired performance and reduced productivity and, in turn, heighten anxiety. Among other things, grief can take a toll on the body, leading to physical ailments that may result in absenteeism.[3]
A common example of loss and grief in the workplace occurs when employees experience layoffs, firings, or team shifts due to new job opportunities. Mergers and significant organization-wide changes can also cause stress due to the feelings of uncertainty they elicit in employees. Even something as routine as a teammate moving to a different project, or the end of a project, can have repercussions. For instance, employees may feel left behind after a teammate receives a promotion or moves to a different team or project. In addition to missing the coworker who moves, if there is a gap in backfilling the position, the remaining coworkers may also be frustrated by an increase in their workload. This frustration can lead to “malicious compliance,”[PK1] where employees do the work, but they do not do it well. This type of passive-aggressive behavior can contribute to a toxic work culture.
Even the most basic changes can have repercussions. When ushering an organization through change, how leaders communicate and how employees receive information at the outset and throughout the process will determine its impact on workforce morale. When leaders do not gain employee buy-in from the start, they risk employee burnout and attrition.
How can organizations address this issue head on?
One meaningful approach for organizations is to become change-sensitive: recognizing how employees respond to change due to past experiences, including trauma. Organizations can demonstrate a genuine interest in creating a change-sensitive environment and in creating peaceful change.
Leaders who operate without a change-sensitive mindset might not recognize how change-related loss affects employees, assuming they simply refuse to work productively. This may lead to a workforce wrought with frustration and may damage the relationship between employees and their managers.
Specifically, organizations can become change-sensitive by:
Normalizing imperfection, encouraging employees to speak up (which cultivates psychological safety), and ensuring transparency through honesty and integrity.
Emphasizing teamwork and peer support, empowering employees’ strengths, and encouraging shared decision-making.[4]
·Delivering trauma-informed change as part of the overall change management process by: [5]
Incorporating change-sensitive guiding principles into every interaction, policy, and communication;
Educating employees about these guiding principles;
Evaluating current policies and practices to ensure they are change-sensitive; and
Modifying what is not change-sensitive.
Plainly stating what the coming change is and identifying all the people it will impact, both directly and indirectly.
Conducting a quick impact assessment and identifying an ideal future state. By doing so, leaders can begin to examine how employees will feel about the change process and develop their plan for change.
Brainstorming ways to close the gap between anticipated negative reactions and positive responses to the change process.
Upon completing the above steps, creating a change management plan and announcing the change. During this process of communicating the change, leaders should listen to employee concerns, acknowledge the feedback, and adapt accordingly.
Ultimately, it is important to be mindful of introducing change in an organization. It may begin with loss, but using a change-sensitive approach will help to ensure better change outcomes and healthier organizational culture.
[1] Bridges, William. 1988. “Bridges Transition Model.” William Bridges Associates. 1988. https://wmbridges.com/about/what-is-transition/.
[2] Kappers, Jacqueline L., “Using the Change Fingerprint Framework(c) to Create Change Capacity” (Change San Diego, Association for Change Management Professionals, San Diego, CA, March 1, 2024).
[3] “Grief in the Workplace: When It’s Not Business as Usual.” n.d. Www.socialworktoday.com. https://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/032216p24.shtml.
[4] Flame, Vera “Trauma-informed Change” (Change San Diego, Association for Change Management Professionals, San Diego, CA, March 2, 2024).
[5] Cook, Edward and Roxanne M. Brown, “How to Grow Joy at Work in Times of Change” (Change San Diego, Association for Change Management Professionals, San Diego, CA, March 2, 2024).