Page 212 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

From Resistance to Renewal 197

When the workforce distrusts management, it is very difficult to establish
that cooperation. A group of professionals in a small advertising firm shared
grievances about a lack of consultation on projects, job costing, the control of
projects, allocation of company resources, and profit sharing. Once the group
realized their common grievances and approached management with their
concerns, management could essentially do nothing to placate them because
things had deteriorated to the point that every response management made
to solve the problem was viewed with distrust: “There they go again, trying to
manipulate us.”
One manager’s offer to work more closely on projects was viewed as con-
trolling. Management’s offer of greater autonomy was seen as an attempt to
distance themselves from the workforce. An offer to a sick employee of sick
leave was viewed as an attempt to get rid of an aggrieved employee. A man-
ager’s friendly inquiry about a vacation was interpreted as an attempt to find
out how soon the employee would return to work.
A common mistake is not getting the workforce involved in the organiza-
tional improvement process early enough. To get them involved after they have
substantive grievances tends to encourage them to coalesce into a kind of
mutually supporting group pitted against management. Better to get them
involved early in the process, serving on committees with management, and
not on worker committees that make recommendations to management. Build
consensus, not conflict.

5. Not exerting sufficient pressure on people to improve the organization.
Generally, the tension or pressure to change and grow is not strong in organ-
izations. People will not change if there is little impetus to change. Organiza-
tions can benefit from pressure from within or outside the organization. This
structural tension or cognitive dissonance is the tension that people feel when
they realize the difference between what actually exists and what could be. The
pressure can come from a variety of sources. External pressure comes from
competition, from clients and customers, from leaders and stockholders. Inter-
nal pressure can come from leadership, from productivity or profitability data,
from peer pressure, or from competition for internal resources.
Individuals often feel their own internalized pressure when they realize the
difference between what actually exists and what should be. Those within the
organization set internal standards and strive to live up to them. Without ten-
sion or pressure to improve, people tend to support the status quo.