Managing Resistance to Change in Australian Workplaces

Change never shows up at our doorstep with a politeness of Pollyanna, but bursts in instead through the back door and rearranges all the furniture before asking everyone to feel at home by lunch. That is the reality I witness in Australian workplaces over and over. We make announcements of new systems, process changes, or strategic pivots for all the right reasons and then are surprised when people push back. No, truth is just simple and clear, its properties cannot be bullied. It's feedback. And if you treat it that way, then you win.

Why people push back, and why it's not always a bad thing

Fear of the unknown is the most notable one. Beneath that is a cocktail of reasonable concerns: will my job change? Will my role disappear? Am I going to be berated for not being able to figure out the new system? People have skin in the game. They have put in place habits that allow work to be possible. You shake the basement you get tremors.

But here's a counterintuitive thought: resistance is often the most effective early warning system you can have. It shows you where the communication is thin, where the skills are weak and where your assumptions are off base. Those companies that see resistance as an inconvenience miss opportunities to improve their plans before they begin to undermine productivity or morale.

Human beings react in certain ways to change. Some will oppose openly. Others will retreat, produce less, miss the deadline, grumble in hallways. Or they will go through the motions on the surface while undermining in secret. And recognising those patterns early is what the manager's job is. Fantasising that everyone will just get on board because the memo said so is naive.

Communication, not corporate memo kind

Clear messaging counts. But not the kind that gets blasted from the executive comms team on a Friday afternoon. When change lands, people need to know three things: why it is happening, what specifically will change and how the changes will affect them personally.

The why: Describe the purpose and benefits. For the Business but also for teams and individuals. Anchor the change in your organisation's purpose and employees' values. Put it in human terms.

The what: be specific. Vague promises breed anxiety. If anything the processes, KPIs or reporting lines are going to change, specify it. If timelines are flexible, communicate that.

The how: training, support, resources. Don't just throw a system to someone and expect competence to appear out of the blue. Provide some hands on, pragmatic coaching, not mere e learning for the sake of being able to check off a box.

And, crucially, listen. Conduct town halls, small group chats, skip level catch ups. Not a one way broadcast, but a genuine conversation where people can express concerns and receive responses. Active listening isn't optional. It builds trust.

Participation isn't bureaucracy, it's strategy

When people participate in making the change happen, they're not just accepting it. It is classic Organisational behaviour, but few leaders truly operationalise it. Engaging frontline staff in process redesign, selecting pilot teams across functions, embedding user feedback loops, these are not time wasting activities. They are investment.

Yes, it takes longer. Implementation timelines can stretch. But there is a trade off: more adoption, less risk of unintended consequences and better morale. It may not be popular to say this, but rushing to "go live" because it looks good on a Gantt chart is lazy leadership. Invest in participation and measure what you get back, reduced helpdesk calls, faster uptake, lower turnover.

A viewpoint some will take issue with: middle managers matter much more than the CEO does in successful change. There's a reason that so many organisations pour their hearts and souls (and PR efforts) into polished announcements for executives rather than the training and briefing for the local level coaches who lead teams day to day. That's a strategic error.

Create ownership and accountability

Ownership is the cure for resistance. When employees feel ownership of the change, when they know whose job it is to do what and what will happen if they do or don't get the job done in relation to them and their team, engagement moves. Align expectations, delegate authority: Allow teams to own the executional aspect of a rollout, give them decision latitude and make accountability real.

Recognition plays a role too. Reward adaptability. Celebrate teams that show initiative. Small recognitions, a shout out in a team meeting, some form of visible h/t from leadership, compound acceptance.

Training is not a discretionary thing; it's a Business strategy

Skill gaps are perhaps the most candid excuses for resistance. They fight it because they are worried that they will not be able to succeed in the new environment. Address that head on. Develop training that is practical, relevant and timely. Two hour sessions, six months prior to go live, is not going to cut it.

Micro learning, experiential workshops, job shadowing and role play see much better results. Mentoring or peer coaching who does alleviate anxiety. Match the confident with those who lack confidence. Here's a controversial view: mandatory, long form e learning modules often have the opposite of the desired effect. They tick the box on compliance, but they don't build capability. It's the short, coached, applied learning sessions, ideally run by people who understand the local context, that really move the needle.

Support extends beyond initial training. Continuous coaching, drop in clinics, handy reference guides and a responsive helpdesk ensure that transitions are less daunting. People need to know there is help when they fall.

The psychology of change, empathy, not platitudes

Previous experiences with change inform current responses. Of previous efforts were haphazard and failed, people will assume history will repeat itself. Empathy helps. That's not coddling; that's acknowledging real fears and honestly addressing them.

Leaders must be appropriately vulnerable in small, targeted ways. Admit unknowns. Say what you don't know yet answers to and commit to finding out. That builds credibility. There is no faster way to destroy trust than with slippery PR.

Don't underestimate the social aspect, either. Shifts that feel threatening to relationships or status will sting more than process tweaks. Let people know how roles can change over time, and how career paths are maintained or boosted. Framing matters. Be great story tellers about the destination, rather than just mechanics. Make it relatable: how will this change make a team's day better? What will success mean in practical terms?

Spot the early signs of misalignment

Resistance tends to show up quietly. Low productivity, blown deadlines, an increase in complaints or grim silence are possible signs. Managers need to look for these indicators and raise them as legitimate input, not a sign of bad attitude.

Leverage feedback mechanisms: pulse surveys, anonymous suggestion boxes, manager check ins. And act on the feedback. Nothing kills engagement faster than surveys that go "poof!" into a black hole.

When there is conflict, Get real. Address fears in a factual manner without emotion. If a ruling continues to be in place, explain why. Own it if there's real ambiguity. When there's transparency, people put up with uncertainty.

Some perhaps unpopular positive opinions: I'd say in (almost?) every case, if you spend a hair more on up front training / stakeholder engagement it saves you double in lost productivity later. It's not sexy, but it works. Invest in people, don't try to save your way to success.

And: not every change requires a 12 step change management process. Sometimes leaders overcomplicate. Practical, proportionate and well led techniques are what count. Keep it fit for purpose.

Real practices that work

• Take small steps: get pilot with a cooperative workgroup. Iterate fast. Scale after you've ironed out the kinks.
• Look for quick wins, and deliver it early on. Visible improvement inspires momentum like nobody's business.
• Teach managers: provide scripts, FAQs, and coaching time. They are at the vanguard of translating strategy into daily practice.
• Utilise data: measure adoption metrics, helpdesk volumes and productivity indicators. Let the empirical signals inform course corrections.
• Celebrate the milestones. Rituals are important, they signal psychological progress.

When participation appears costly

Critics will argue that it slows things down, while driving up cost. They're correct in the short term sense. But it's an expensive false economy: half baked, underused rollouts, productivity slumps and experienced employees quitting. Processes of Participation: An Investment in Resilience. Mentoring and peer support tend to be paid for in lower rates of error and higher productivity. It's like compound capability building over time.

Organisational culture is the long game

Change thrives where it has support of culture. If amateur teams are accustomed to a culture of top down instructions, then transitioning to what is often described as an 'integrated' leadership approach demands time, guidance and role modelled behaviour. You can't fake culture, you have to model it.

That said, culture transformation can be sped with visible leadership commitment, aligned incentives and story telling about wins. It's messy. That's reality. But the Organizations that persevere build a capacity for immune system thinking and are future proofed.

A little numbers to keep you honest

Organisations that invest correctly in change management achieve considerably better results. Studies repeatedly demonstrate the significant uplift a focus on people side activities brings to project success. And practically: we supply over 400 bespoke training options to Australian businesses and that is just a tiny, modest indicator of the very real demand business has for practical, local learning solutions.

Closing thoughts, brief and to the point

Manage resistance by using it as intelligence. Be clear in your communication; include people; train on the (real) job; support without end. Do these things and resistance weakens, often, though not always, dramatically.

Ignore them, and the best moves fail. Change is inevitable. Resistance is normal. Leadership is determining the difference between destruction disruption and achievement disruption. Make the choice.

Sources & Notes

• Prosci. Best Practice in Change Management (2018). Structured change management relationship to project outcomes research that projects with high quality change management are 6 times more likely to meet or exceed objectives
• Internal: Paramount training and development company information, over 400 tailored courses across Australia (eg where you re going is just down the road from here location for an Australian audience)