A company or business undergoing workplace change is going through a stressful event. Good stress management practice should be in place in order to help affected employees go though a less stressful and agonizing transition. Sad and unfortunate it may be, people still would need to be prepared to face such stressful events with their wits still intact.
For managers, going through an organizational change can be quite a stressful task in itself. But it is up to those high up in the department to bring the bad news of change to the front lines. This requires effective communication. And it pays to let the employees know and be kept updated. Although sometimes management thinks that news of an impending organizational change that would affect the whole company would remain only within their earshot, news of such usually ends up going down the line and reach employees.
When news of such changes in the organization are received by employees of the company through informal channels, the response to them is usually negative. By the time the management decides to break the news, the stress and unanswered concerns may have already spread. The problem with getting news of an organizational change through informal sources is that employees may not have the means to have all their concerns answered and are therefore left to make up their own conclusions.
In order to avoid spreading such unwanted stress to the whole organization about to undergo organizational change, it is up to the management to provide the news themselves before the employees themselves get hold of it through other sources. This will help avoid building up stress and conflicts among the organization already about to undergo a stressful experience. Communicating such news takes prompt action.
One way to spread the news of an organizational change is to try and involve the employees. Management alone may not be able to do the job effectively. It may require the help of some people from the front lines. Managers should try to involve supervisors and team leaders in order to help spread the news of the change and to provide the reasons why the change may be the best for the company. Doing so would help the organization as a whole get the whole picture and avoid employees from making up their own conclusions over the matter, creating a confused and agitated situation.
But good stress management does not stop at just spreading the news of organizational change about to happen. It is also important to know how the employees may react to this. There might be a need to interview the employees in order for management to know what the employees truly feel about the situation.
Effective change can only be achieved if the organization goes through a smooth transition. And a smooth change involves ensuring that the affected employees go through a less stressful experience by addressing issues that include their fears, needs and concerns. True, there might be quite a number who might oppose the idea.
And that is where management may have the challenge of convincing affected employees and trying to address their concerns sincerely to avoid the buildup of a stressful situation that can easily get out of hand.