Addressing Issues

Addressing Resistance to Change

Fear of Failure Impedes Acceptance of New Ideas

According to human performance and training design professionals, adults normally resist changes to their routine and environment, especially changes in their work environment. Fear of failure, falling short of managers' expectations, and a reduction in their status among peers and co-workers are frequent reasons for adults to be less than enthusiastic about changes introduced employer.

The logic that the change will cause improvements in performance or a better product/service for the client does little to make dramatic change easier to embrace. The intense emotions involved in the fear of the unknown and fear of failing typically prevail, even when the employees are well-educated professionals.

When a manager sees the need to implement system changes, taking steps to allay staff concerns and encourage involvement at all levels of the organizational structure can make the entire process much less troublesome for the entire team.

When employees believe they have a conduit for input and can play a role in designing the system changes, they have a vested interest in seeing that the revised system actually works and is implemented according to plan. A staff that is not consulted and is left on the perimeter of all meaningful decisions can feel resentment, distrust, alienation and even overt rebellion.

Open Communication Enables Trusting Relationships with Employees

Open communication between staff in administration and operations will go a long way to bridge gaps in expectations and provide a foundation of understanding and common goals for success. When employees feel they have a conduit for input and can play a role in designing the system changes, they are more likely to have a vested interest in seeing that the revised system actually works and is implemented according to plan. Staff members who are not consulted and are left on the perimeter of all meaningful decisions can feel resentment, distrust, alienation and even overt rebellion.

Staff members who feel secure about the reasons for system change and understand that the overall concern is for the welfare of the patient are, in fact, more likely to join in and contribute ideas and suggestions for further enhancing the new system.

Training professionals frequently use the term “buy-in” to describe the process of involving front-line personnel in performance modifications and job description changes. Buy-in does not necessarily mean every employee must agree with the organization's administration on the system change, but it does involve employees understanding the reasons behind the change and accepting the changes to their job descriptions and performance standards.

Seek Help from Human Resources Professionals

Administrators who have access to the organization’s personnel department, human resources, or staff training professionals will want to seek the assistance of those individuals in developing a complete task analysis, performance audit, needs assessment, and training program.

Administrators need to keep in mind that when a system is changed, employees' jobs are changed. Changing an employee’s workload, level of responsibility or expectations concerning skill-set requirements, may translate into changes in wages, schedules, and compensation/review schedules. When unions, trade associations, or employee contracts are involved, the process of enacting system changes takes on another dimension. The administration must allow the necessary time and budget allocations to go through the appropriate steps of that organization’s process.

If the organization has no formal procedure already developed for modifying an employee’s job description, the manager should develop his or her own strategy for a plan of action, taking care to allow adequate resources of time, tools and training, as well as providing for the employee’s input.

The demographic and psychographic profiles of the employees affected by the call for system change can have a substantial impact on the amount of resistance and, therefore, the amount of training and orientation time that will be required to adopt the new expectations. The adage that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” may seem absurd in today’s high-tech education environment, however, professional trainers and educators routinely allow additional discussion time, drills and review periods when the audience is comprised of adult learners over the age of 40.

Meeting the Needs of Adult Learners

In fact, adult learners tend to have a very different learning style from “typical students” for whom most course work is directed. Adults tend to have shorter attention spans than children! Their cell phones, laptops, day planners and palm pilots act as continual diversions during lectures or seminars. Preoccupation with the myriad other responsibilities that today’s time-deprived professional faces, from car pool duty to volunteer obligations, often cause the adult student to find it difficult to concentrate and absorb new data. Additionally, many adults are simply “out of practice” when it comes to studying and learning new skills.

When developing a training program to teach staff members about revamped expectations concerning patient-centered care, cultural acceptance, and chronic care models of care, it is important to remember these challenges and adapt content and teaching accordingly. For example, having several shorter training sessions, rather than one long one, may be a more effective way to teach new concepts. Varying presentation styles, from auditory to tactile and participatory tools, is another accepted tactic for teaching adult learners. In other words, break it up. Mix it up. Use a combination of lectures, writing, reading and role-playing. Allowing the adult learner to proceed at his or her own pace is also a good idea when it is feasible.

"Just-in-time learning" is a training technique that is frequently used for broad-based or technical subject matter. This technique is based on the principle of providing just enough information to do the job at hand. Adult learners, especially professionals, insist that training sessions should have immediate, practical application for them to find merit in the learning opportunity and, therefore, apply effort. For example, the diabetes educator who works with a Hispanic/Latino population may not be enthusiastic about learning conversational Spanish, but might be quite interested in learning key nutrition, diabetes, and food phrases in Spanish so that he or she can be more effective.

The use of "resourceware" is another training trend that is gaining in popularity. This refers to using the Internet and computer software to present the subject matter. For professionals, the flexibility of resourceware makes this training style very convenient and, therefore, preferred over lectures or seminars. Exclusively using resourceware, though, does not allow for interaction among staff members or significant feedback from peers, students, or instructors. Resourceware is usually supplemented with another training style that allows for one-on-one or group interaction.

Group settings are important for developing a team attitude and providing opportunities for motivating and praising the learner. Like all students, adult learners need praise and encouragement for tackling new subject matter and taking risks. Health care professionals may be highly educated and highly esteemed in their current positions, but they are still human and require reassurance and support during the challenging stages of making a systems change.

The following checklist provides a brief description of the that tactics training professionals use when introducing a system change to established employees. For more assistance in this area, refer to the American Society for Training & Development www.ASTD.org for guidelines and insights on accepted best practice models for adult learning and worksite training methods. This site also can also direct you to ASTD chapters in your community where you can find professionals to help you develop a strategy for enacting a systems change for your staff.

Guidelines for Introducing a Systems Change to your Staff

1. Pre-test employee’s skill level and understanding of subject matter and perceptions concerning the topic’s significance.
2. Develop a method for measuring and quantifying employees' performance in this field or subject matter.
3. Analyze how the changes to the system will translate into employee job descriptions and standard operational procedures.
4. Define the new skills that will be needed once the system change is in place.
5. Establish a forum for involving employees in a fact-finding and needs assessment to determine realistic goals for the system change.
6. Change job descriptions. Put in writing the specific duties and expectations of the employees within the framework of the new system.
7. Define expectations and how performance change will be measured, when it will be measured, and by whom.
8. Include suggestions from employees and accept feedback.
9. Provide adequate training and work tools necessary to perform the revised job.
10. Change compensation structure as warranted by changes in responsibility.
11. Build into the plan a method to collect and measure results, including feedback from employees concerning their opinions on the success or failure of the changes to their jobs.
12. Based on feedback and evaluation, refine the job expectations and goals as needed.

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