Psychology

Despite knowing that change is the order of the day, people are prone to resisting change, because it is natural. Several factors make individuals resistant to change in organizations, including the top two fear of the unknown and challenge to the current status quo. Also, people resist change when the reasons are unclear, or they are not privy to the processes of change, or the trouble of changing does not seem justified by the rewards and benefits promised, and when information regarding change is incomplete or inaccurate.

An OPD professional should know where the resistance is likely to occur, so that he or she may manage it accordingly. She could apply a learning perspective to the RBC case study by ensuring that development takes place through learning. This can be done by applying either the traditional or the social learning theory. That is, either classical or operant conditioning can be applied, making employees respond to fresh stimuli as well as a reward and penalty system. Also, learning can be brought about through observation and role modeling. For instance, given that in most cases, we are a product of our environment, it would assist an OPD professional to keep in mind the fact that employees who feel involved and informed are most motivated to cooperate with change.

The sources of resistance that were encountered at RBC as per the case included change in systems and procedures (which had to be communicated to everyone involved), and a change in status quo (pricing was centralized by taking away the discretion at the hands of the bank personnel with respect to mortgages and investment certificates). A shift in focus from short-term gains to long-term profitability was another source of resistance because it was bound to change the way people currently worked with respect to present job objectives and work relationships. I believe that these sources of resistance were overcome because it is apparent that the changes were communicated and all were committed to them eventually.