How Best To Deal With Employees Opposed To Change

Aligning employees means different things to different people. For some, it means trying to get everyone on the same page while to others it means first looking at the bigger picture and trying to understand what role each person is playing.

However you define it, employee alignment is important if employees are to stay focused and maximize profits.

Sometimes, no matters how efficient your communication and execution of change is, there will always be team members who will not accept and adapt the changes as fast as the rest.

As HR, sometimes we forget that some employees will actively work against our efforts to drive change. They will even recruit employees to work against you and the worst thing is that these employees may even be your tenured employees.  So what do you do when that happens?

What is the 20/60/20 rule?

One of the best ways to deal with such a challenge is to understand what I call the 20/60/20 rule.

In every organization going through change, there will be twenty percent who understand where the organization is heading and will be fully on board in executing changes. Sixty percent understand the need for change but are skeptical about why the organizations need to be making such changes. The other twenty percent are the real challenge. They do not agree with your plan and have already made up their mind about it. Do you work to bring them on board or do you do everything you can to weed them out?

As HR you most likely want your team to accept your idea and run with them with commitment and enthusiasm, but that will not always be the case.

You are not doing it to win a popularity contest but are leading change to build a healthier culture and a more profitable business. Whether you like it or not, a portion of your team will never agree with you vision and the faster you can identify and eliminate those employees, the faster your agenda can move forward.

1. Identify influencers

Consider that group of employees who have welcomed your ideas, understand it and know where the company is headed. Among them, identify your opinion leaders – the ones who tend to have more influence on others. They may not be highest in job titles or functions, but others tend to listen or watch them.

These are the ones you use to influence the sixty percent who understand the need for change but are dragging with them this degree of doubt or uncertainty about how it’s all going to work out.

You can’t win over all of these employees by yourself, so empower your opinion leaders to move the ball forward with you.

2. Now, what about the group at the bottom?

Is it right to just fire anyone who disagrees with your direction? Of course not. Some of those who disagree with you may hold valid opinions that can actually make your plans for change stronger.

So rather than juts assuming that you must get rid of them, consider whether they may be employees you can influence and bring on board.

For most of us, this is easier said than done. For one, some of those employees who seem rigid and non-corporative are competent and excellent? Letting go of them hurts but you just got to accept that the 20/60/20 rule requires that anyone who is part of your organization is technically excellent and aligned to the company’s values and vision.

In other word, at some point you will have no choice but to let them go, lest they jeopardize the entire company and your career in the process.

In the end

The 20/60/20 has no scientific basis. Whatever the number is whether 20 percent, 5 or even 1 percent almost every organization has some employees who may never fit into your culture and your job as a HR leader is to either bring them on board or weed them out if it comes to that.

To understand more about how to align your employees with the organizational goals, build trust, motivation and commitment learn more about our HR trainings tailored to meet your needs as an executive in the business by clicking on this link.