Discussion: Gaining Buy-In And Creating A Vision For Organizational Change

In Week 5, you examined the myriad reasons employees resist change, which can include fear of the unknown, perceived lack of control or support, and poor communication on behalf of leaders about why the change is necessary. In this Discussion, you will explore a related topic: lack of employee buy-in for change. Employee resistance to change often leads to lack of buy-in for the change, particularly if employees strongly believe in the status quo or fail to see the benefits of the change to themselves and others. Lack of buy-in to the change may ultimately stall or sabotage the change if employees decide not to take action to support and implement it. Therefore, addressing a lack of buy-in to change goes beyond calming employee fears to actively “selling” the change. One of the best ways to “sell” a change is to create a compelling vision.

In this Discussion, you will explore the importance of gaining employee buy-in and creating a compelling vision to successfully manage organizational change.

To Prepare

• Review the resources on change management models. Consider the role of leaders in each stage of the change process.
• Read the article “Defining “Buy-In: Introducing the Buy-In Continuum.” Focus on the descriptions of each stage in the buy-in continuum and leadership strategies for helping employees move to higher stages in the continuum (ATTACHED).
• Consider how to develop compelling vision statements for organizational change and the characteristics of well-written vision statements.
• Review the article “Positive Leadership in Action: Applications of POS by Jim Mallozzi, CEO, Prudential Real Estate and Relocation.” Consider positive leadership practices for successfully managing change (ATTACHED).
• Identify an organizational change you experienced in your current or former workplace that was unsuccessful. Reflect on the employee attitudes and behaviors that led you to believe they did not buy in to the change. Create a 3- to 4-sentence vision statement that you think would have motivated the employees to buy in to the change.

By Day 3

Post a response to the following:

Explain the role of leadership in the change management process. Then, briefly describe an organizational change you experienced in your current or former workplace that was unsuccessful due to a lack of employee buy-in. Describe the employee attitudes and/or behaviors that led you to believe that they did not buy in to the change. Finally, create a 3- to 4-sentence vision statement that you think could have motivated employees to buy into the organizational change.