WHEN Shumba (41) walked into the boardroom of a blue-chip company in Harare as its managing director, he was met with cold stares and quiet murmurs.
Shumba, a sharp-minded leader with a proven track record, was hired to rescue the company which was on the brink of collapse.
His first port of call was to implement a raft of strategies aimed at injecting life into the company’s operations.
Surprisingly, he later realised that his greatest challenge wasn’t developing innovative solutions to shore up the company, but overcoming the resistance from employees and managers alike who saw him as a threat to their familiar routines.
The company had been operating in the same space and systems since 1985 and although Shumba’s arrival promised growth and improvement, the employees and managers were suspicious.
They feared for the worst. They feared that he would introduce radical changes that would upset the status quo.
To him, the fear was not on innovation or progress, but potential losses: their sense of control, comfort and even their job security.
For Shumba, the key to successful change management was recognising that the resistance he was facing was not necessarily born out of fear of change itself, but from a fear of losing the things people valued most.
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Shumba’s story reflects a truth that lies at the heart of most institutional change: people do not inherently fear change, but they are afraid of losing “entitlements” that they were enjoying.
Based on what Shumba faced, it becomes clear that change management is less about managing the change itself, but more about managing people’s fears and anxieties surrounding what they stand to lose.
Employees often see change as a disruption to their comfort zones—where they feel safe and familiar with their roles and routines.
When this author joined a certain organisation a while ago, he also faced resistance.
Murmurs in the corridors thought as a new manager, new strategies that would threaten their comforts would be introduced.
It follows that the instinctual response would be to resist my coming.
For me, this resistance is not irrational. It stems from the legitimate concerns that come with change.
People are rational beings, and they are also selfish by nature.
They fear losing their sense of competence as they adapt to new skills, losing relationships as teams are restructured or even losing their jobs as processes become more efficient or automated.
As we shall all realise, until these underlying fears are addressed, trust from the team would not be gained. And introducing changes would be a futile exercise.
So, the first step is supposed to understand what the team values most and to empathise with its concerns. Instead of pushing through the changes with hippopotamus force, managers should have open conversations with team members first, assuring them that as a manager, he is not there to take anything away from them, but to make their work easier and more rewarding.
This fear of loss is deeply rooted in human psychology.
The work of behavioural economists, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, shows that people experience losses more intensely than they do with gains.
This is known as loss aversion, a cognitive bias that explains why individuals are more motivated to avoid losses than to achieve equivalent gains.
In an organisational setup, when people believe that change may lead to losing something valuable—whether its control over their work, expertise, monetary, relationships or anything—resistance would naturally become a defence mechanism.
This fear of loss is often exacerbated by a lack of transparency and communication from leadership.
When employees are kept in the dark about the reasons behind a change or are not involved in the process, their anxieties about what they might lose grow.
They may fear being left behind in the new order, even if the change ultimately benefits the organisation and even them.
In Shumba’s case, he had no option but to ensure that his team understood not just what the changes would be, but why they were necessary and how they would impact everyone.
Effective change management is about managing these emotional and psychological responses to perceived losses.
Leaders who successfully navigate change do so by acknowledging these fears and proactively addressing them. Here are a few strategies that can be used to turn the tide:
Open communication: Managers should make it a priority to communicate openly and frequently with the team.
The reasons behind the changes and how they would benefit both the organisation and employees should be shared.
By demystifying the process, managers reduce fear of the unknown, which is often fuels resistance.
Involving everyone: Managers should actively involve all stakeholders in the change process.
There is need to ask for their input, listen to their concerns and make them feel like stockholders of the organisation.
When people feel that they have a say in how change happens, they are less likely to resist it. They take ownership of the change process and the results it will bring.
Support: Recognising that some employees feared losing their competence or relevance, managers should invest in upskilling and training programmes.
Everyone should be assured that there is an opportunity to learn and grow within the organisation beyond the changes, turning what could have been a loss into a gain.
Respect the past: Managers should also respect the systems and processes that had been in place before their arrival.
They should also acknowledge that while change is necessary, the organisation was successful in the past for a reason.
By respecting the old ways, they will build trust with the team and make it easier for them to accept new ones.
Hammer on benefits: Managers should consistently remind their team members of the benefits that the changes would bring. Whether it is increased efficiency, less manual labour, or opportunities for growth, there is need to emphasise on the positive outcomes rather than the disruptions.
Managers can successfully lead their organisations through a period of significant change, not because they imposed new strategies, but because they understood the human side of change management. How?
They recognised that the fear of change is rarely about the change itself, but about the potential losses people fear as a result.
By addressing these fears, managers would be able to shift the mindset of their teams from one of resistance to one of collaboration.
Change is inevitable in any organisation, but resistance is not. Leaders who understand that people don’t fear change, but the losses that may accompany it, will be better equipped to lead their teams through transitions successfully.
Through empathy, communication and support, managers can turn fear into confidence and resistance into engagement, creating a culture that embraces change rather than fearing it.
- Cliff Chiduku is the director of marketing, information and public relations at Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences in Mutare. He writes here in his personal capacity. He can be contacted on [email protected] or call/app +263775716517.
