NCJ Number
169013
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 59 Issue: 4 Dated: (July 1997) Pages: 114-116,118
Date Published
1997
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Corrections managers seeking to implement change in their organizations are likely to encounter resistance and should identify the sources and reasons for resistance and then develop an effective strategy for change implementation.
Abstract
Change is a fact of life in management. Advances in technology, personnel issues, judicial decisions, political and social pressures, and other factors all affect change in the organization. Managers need to recognize that individuals may experience change on four levels: knowledge, attitude, individual behavior, and group behavior. Group tactics for resisting changes include issue obfuscation, derailment into subcommittee, outright refusal, symbolic rather than substantive change, wasting time to avoid the real issue, and arguments or refusal to take responsibility. Managers can reduce the negative impact of change on the agency and its personnel by accepting resistance as a natural reaction, encouraging the expression of reservations and suggestions, informing people of pending changes, reassuring the people directly affected, creating interest in planned changes, and obtaining employee participation. Managers should also conduct a diagnostic process before deciding on a solution. They should then formulate a working diagnosis to serve as the basis for problem-solving. 4 references