Your company is taking on a new initiative. You don't agree with it. It seems pointless to you! What do you do? How do you react? How do you respond?
Even when the status quo seems to be working, it generally isn't; globalization and technological advancement has demanded that organizations change just to remain competitive. If you work for a company that will provide you growth opportunities - or even a job - five years from now, it means their motto is “If it ain't broke fix it anyway!" Employee irritation comes from the often-assumed life motto, which says the direct opposite -. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it:''
Your company's changes are always initiated in an attempt to stay viable ...to survive! Yes it's all about survival! To survive they must remain competitive through increased productivity, sales, and gross margins. Market growth is the key marker of the health of your company. If your company's sales exceed market growth, your firm is comparatively healthy. If, however, your company's sales growth is less than the market's growth, it is more than likely your firm is in competitive difficulty.
Let's look at one example: Walmart's sales for 2017 are $500 billion and their net income is $9.9 billion. Their contribution - or margin - is therefore 2%. Is this an acceptable margin given their industry? Well, Target’s contribution last year was 4%...but that's not important; what is important is for each and every one of the their 2.3 million employees to recognize that next year Walmart will be striving to increase their margin - in essence their profitability - regardless whether it was a banner year or not! What senior executives want (and reward) are employees who want to help them improve year over year results…employees who want to improve the company’s results as well as their own personal results, employees who want to change…willingly.
Your manager's job is to push you to grow - at the very least - at the same rate the company is growing. Be better next year than you were last year. That usually means accepting more and/or different responsibilities; it means doing more work for the same pay - with less resources and people. If change didn't happen, you risk becoming redundant! The Walmart example would mean improving your performance - changing - more than 2%.
Change your disposition: change does not happen around you or to you; change INCLUDES you. Embrace it and be included!
If you are already a manager and you resist change, you may be viewed as ill prepared to lead. And if you are a manager who resists change to the point of not being able to hide that basic fact from your direct reports, then you are obligated to move on. lt's the only credible thing to do. Why? Firstly, your direct reports no longer sees you as part of management because you spent all your time commiserating with them, ergo you must be one of them - on their IeveI. Secondly, management will see you as a hindrance and begin the process of marginalizing you anyway! Your reputation is at stake! Embrace the change ...or move on!
The average industry grows at an average just shy of 4% annually. All things being equal, this means that your company has to grow at a rate that exceeds 4%. Simply stated: to stay afloat, every person in your organization (including you) has to 'grow' at a rate of at least 4% annually just to maintain the status quo...just to survive!
Your goal: Absorb the reality that GROWTH IS CHANGE - POSITIVE CHANGE! There is no place in any major organization for someone who doesn't want to grow. Embrace it to succeed.