Along with the fear of your boss, fear of being wrong, fear of change is one the most common phobias found in the workplace. It is not at all a bad thing, in fact, it is perfectly normal for everyone to feel a bit nervous and uncomfortable when there’s a sudden change in our normal routine.

The current situation may be the best for you but will it be any different 6 months or 5 years from now? Research has shown that doing the same routine day in and day out will do nothing but harm for yourself, the rate your brain processes information slows significantly, your way of thinking becomes outdated which signifies through your resistance to change.

People are afraid of change

Even the Millennials are affected by this phobia. The root of this fear stems from the “loss aversion” effect – the tendency to avoid losses rather than acquiring gains – a popular term in the financial world. Routine and predictability give us a sense of control. When there is a break in the system, it throws us into a state of uncertainty.

In the workplace, changes such as a raise or promotion, a job description revision, leaving of an employee, budget cuts, etc. set off the warning alarm among the employees.  

Not everybody considers a promotion to be a good change as they might doubt their ability to handle the new responsibilities well. As a result, a portion of those would act reluctant or strongly resist the opportunity.

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Embrace changes in the workplace

When your employees act reluctant on a large scale, it will cause disruption in the overall productivity. Even worse, your staff is no longer show their enthusiasm, they simply do “just enough” for work while you, on the other hand, are unable to request new recruits as the organisation don’t have the space to accommodate more people.

The solution is “be patient”! Be clear and transparent to your employees about the purpose of changing things in the organisation. In addition, you as a manager should be the role model who accepted the challenge. Be sympathetic as not everyone perceives the changes as good opportunities for them to further developed and grow.

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