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Coping With Change

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. 

It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."
- Charles Darwin

Competitive advantage is the bottom line reason why change is so important for
organisations today. In the corporate world, changing according to market demands allows
organisations to have a fighting chance in today's globalised reality.
There are multiple reasons why change programs are needed and implemented, and
reading any organisational development textbook will enlighten one about the various forces
that interact with each other to drive change. A large part of implementing change programs
in organisations involves change management and the literature in this area is abundant, to
the extent that it is taught as an independent subject in quite a few university courses. As the
name suggests, ‘Change Management’ deals with managing changes in organisations, be it
planned change or unplanned change. Coping with change is a notion that - albeit
infinitesimal - is an important part of change management. While change programs may be
viewed as necessary and important by management and leaders, it is possible - and highly
likely - that it is viewed negatively by employees (unless, of course, the employees
themselves want change). There will be uncertainty in the minds of the employees owing to
the change. The security they might feel on their jobs may be lost. These are aspects that
management needs to understand in order to foresee obstacles on the road to successful
change initiatives. When we talk about managing change our first instinct is to think about
the hard side of change management. Models of change like the most famous Kurt Lewin
Model of unfreezing, restructuring and refreezing, is one example of the hard side. I view this
as the hard side, because models like these don’t consider the intricacies of change. For
example, how these initiatives will affect employees and their emotions, are elements that are
not taken into account. This is something that I regard as the soft side of change management.
Coping with change also falls on the soft side of change management. But what does the
word ‘coping’ refer to? Coping has been defined as “a response aimed at diminishing the
physical, emotional and psychological burden that is linked to stressful life events and daily
hassles” (Snyder, 1999, p. 5) In this case the stressors and hassles refer to the changes that are

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being made within the organisation. An argument could be made in favour for incremental
change in this case. Let us look at Incremental change and Transformational change as two
types of change. Transformational change is a total upheaval of existing systems to new ways
which are meant to optimise functioning. The very nature of transformational change induces
stress considering fear of job loss or job transfers owing to organisational restructuring.
While transformational change does pay heed to employees’ level of adjustment or their level
of coping (to a certain extent), the kind of psychological adjustment required to cope with the
magnitude of the change is not given enough consideration. The basis of incremental change
on the other hand, is small changes one step at a time so as to give employees and
organisations time to adjust and cope with the change. But it doesn't talk about how
employees can be enabled to cope with change. Here, the onus falls on the employee to
successfully cope.
Understanding the emotions of employees regarding change programs can go a long
way to bring about successful coping strategies. The five phase change model proposed by
Jeanie Daniel Duck in her book The Change Monster, speaks about not just the process of
change but also the emotions felt during each phase. In phase 1 i.e. Stagnation, there is an
awakening among certain employees who see the need for change. This occurs when they
observe that the organisation is stagnating and is in danger of decline. The ones who see the
need for change feel motivated and energised while those who do not feel the need to change
go into denial and feel anger when others suggest change. Preparation is the stage wherein
leaders start ideating about possible changes, and here, the ones against the change feel
threatened. Next comes Implementation, and this is the phase where the real change occurs.
New lines of reporting may be established, jobs may be restructured, employees may be let
go or transferred. In addition to feelings of threat, worry, fear, inadequacy and uncertainty,
employees can also feel strongly negative emotions like apathy and resentment. In
Determination (Phase 4), employees realise that some changes have taken place but because
the change is still in it’s early stages, many view it as a failure and end up sticking to their
original opinions against change. Here, along with feeling negatively about the change,
employees feel a certain level of relief when they see that the desired state has not been
reached. Fruition is the last phase of this process. Here, all the employees are finally on board
with the plan because they see changes in bottom line results. However, leaders must keep a

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close eye on the resisting employees. Just because they haven’t voiced their opposition in this
last phase doesn’t mean they have completely come on board with the plan. They could
merely comply without being satisfied (Johnson, 2014). As can be seen, employees feel a
range of emotions when change programs are initiated.
Coping with change effectively and efficiently, will unquestionably result in successful
change. However, coping ineffectively can be extremely harmful to the health of the
company as well as the employees themselves. How leaders, management, as well as
employees cope with change is important and has many implications on how well the
implemented change will be received and incorporated into the organisation. Coping well
with change is important because it will nullify the restraining forces against change.
Resistance to change will decrease if employees are taught and encouraged to cope well.
The next question we can ask is, are there certain types of employees who cope with
change better than others? From observing people around us and how they deal with change,
we know that there are some people who deal with change better than others even though
both kinds of people may equally dislike the change taking place. In relation to job stress and
unemployment coping, Angelo Kinicki and Janina Latack have studied two types of coping
that individuals engage in (1990). Latack spoke about the difference between ‘control coping’
and ‘escape coping’ (1986) while Kinicki mentioned how it was the escape copers who
organisations need to look out for when initiating and implementing change programs (2007).
Control copers are those who get work done as soon as deadlines are set. They focus on
putting their heads down and focusing on the task at hand. While it is not necessary that
control copers are on board with the change at hand, they try to focus on getting themselves
abreast with the new systems. On the other hand, Escape copers are the ones who put things
off until the very end. They do not abide by their deadlines and will moan and groan about
the change until the very end. Escape copers have been known to take more sick leaves. If
things get worse, escape copers can eventually develop hatred for their jobs and eventually
decide to quit (Kinicki, 2007). One can observe that these two styles of coping have the
underlying concept of approach versus avoidance towards conflict. By understanding the
types of coping employees practice, organisations can keep an eye out for the escape copers
and probably pay more attention to helping them while also helping the control copers. At the

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same time researchers can build on this model and come up with intervention strategies to
help employees cope in a better way.
Types of coping can also differ based on personality characteristics. This is exactly what
Judge, Thoresen, Pucik and Welbourne (1999) studied with respect to managerial coping with
organisational change. They found that 7 personality variables: locus of control, generalised
self-efficacy, self-esteem, positive affectivity, openness to experience, tolerance for
ambiguity, and risk aversion were positively correlated to effective managerial coping with
organisational change (Judge, Thoresen, Pucik, & Welbourne, 1999). This study can
contribute to organisational understanding of how coping works. Organisations that are
looking to introduce change need to ensure that their leaders and managers can effectively
cope with change. This is of utmost importance because if these individuals themselves are
not on board, then change programs will be unsuccessful before they are even implemented.
Another aspect that can be considered is screening of managers or employees based on these
variables, during selection and recruitment. Organisations that have a proclivity for constant
change will need employees who can cope well with change. At the same time, individuals
who are usually averse to change can look to work at organisations that are not in a perpetual
state of modification.
Other factors that can have an effect on coping are job satisfaction, the employees’ level
of organisational commitment and their perception of their career success. The above
mentioned factors all have the common thread of vested interest. This points to the fact that if
employees have vested interests they are more likely to cope better and be on board with
change programs.
So how can individuals learn and be encouraged to cope with change better? How
employees react and cope with change is connected to the way they perceive, or “appraise,”
that change. So if managers can get employees on board with a change strategy early in the
game — before those workers have the chance to form their own negative opinion of it —
managers have a fighting chance of making those changes work (Johnson, 2014). This can be
done by communication. As cliche as it sounds, communication is key. If employees feel like
they are being included in the change efforts, if they are given regular updates about what is
happening and how it will affect them, they are more likely to support the change.
Interpreting the events that have unfolded and giving the employees a lowdown regarding

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annual reports will also go a long way in creating a better image of the changes to come
(Johnson, 2014). This will create a positive view of the change and thus employees will not
feel as stressed about it. Thus they will be able to cope positively and engage in control
coping. What we all need to understand is that employees are bound to feel a myriad of
emotions. They might be excited about the change but also insecure about their place in it. At
this time, they should be given space to feel and express their feelings if they feel the need to. 

As part of their Employee Assistance Program, Dartmouth College Faculty have released an
open source word document stating strategies for coping with workplace change. They have
elaborated on five strategies: Take charge, Talk, Maintain a realistic outlook, Improve lines of
communication, and Use and develop coping skills. While most of these strategies are self
explanatory, taking charge includes encouraging employees to plan out how they will respond
and deal with the upcoming change. In this document, the faculty have stated that coping
skills can be developed by exercising, maintaining a schedule, using distraction, being calm,
and making use of available resources. At the organisational level, stress management
programs and unlearning programs can prove to be very effective (Callan, 1993).
Now that change management professionals and scholars have figured out how to bring
about change effectively, the literature should also focus on the soft side of change
management.

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References


1. Callan, V. J. (1993). Individual and organizational strategies for coping with

organizational change. Work & Stress, 7(1), 63-75.
2. Fight or flight: How employees cope with organizational change. (2014, October
28). Retrieved April 10, 2018, from https://research.wpcarey.asu.edu/fight-or-flight-how-
employees-cope-with-organizational-change/
3. Johnson, L. K. (2014, July 23). Helping Employees Cope with Change. Retrieved
from https://hbr.org/2009/01/helping-employees-cope-with-ch.html
4. Judge, T. A., Thoresen, C. J., Pucik, V., & Welbourne, T. M. (1999). Managerial
coping with organizational change: A dispositional perspective. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 84(1), 107-122. doi:10.1037//0021-9010.84.1.107
5. Kinicki, A. J., & Latack, J. C. (1990). Explication of the construct of coping with
involuntary job loss. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 36(3), 339-360. doi:
10.1016/0001-8791(90)90036-2
6. Latack, J. C. (1986). Coping with job stress: Measures and future directions for
scale development. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(3), 377.
7. Snyder, C. R. (1999). Coping: The psychology of what works. New York: Oxford
University Press

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