Ol 500 Discussion 8-1 Kimberley Woodward
Three Stages of Change
A change in an organization consists of a variation in the working environment that
affects the way employees act. Newstrom (2015) acknowledges three facts about change: "it is
everywhere, it is constant, and its pace is accelerating" (Newstrom, 2015, Pg. 375). Each change
in an organization produces a response to change, which is illustrated by employees' attitudes.
Each employee interprets an organizational change differently, so leaders in an organization must
implement change in the workplace properly. Kurt Lewin observed that change is "an
evolutionary process that is continuous and flowing" (Newstrom, 2015, Pg. 387). This is shown
in his three-stage process consisting of the following three phases: unfreezing, changing, and
refreezing.
Unfreezing. In the unfreezing stage, a manager "must help employees clear their minds of
old objectives, roles, and behaviors" (Newstrom, 2015, Pg. 387). In my current workplace,
change is inevitable. In financial institutions, there are teller systems, which are integrated
hardware and software used for transactions and communication across the company. In early-
2019, management announced an overhaul of the teller system. Employees learned the interface
was being overhauled, and some functionalities were improving or being removed. Many
employees were suffered from psychological resistance due to a fear of the unknown. Equally.
many had logical objections from the realization that many of their work processes would change
considerably, and there would be "extra effort to relearn" (Newstrom, 2015, Pg. 383). Changing
Newstrom (2015) declares this step in which "new ideas, new methods, and new technologies are
learned" (Newstrom, 2015, Pg. 387). Senior management announced a beta trial for the new
system. The old system was still available to use, but employees were able to go into the new
system and perform transactions and learn their functions in a "training mode." By allowing
employees with this opportunity to learn, they were able to overcome confusion and self-doubt.
Refreezing. This stage implies that what has been learned has been integrated by an organization
Muhammad Raza (2019) explains it is essential to "sustain and reinforce change, and the
employees no longer resist forces trying to implement change" (Raza, 2019). In late 2019, the
new teller system was implemented by the company, and the old teller system was removed to
prevent employees from resorting to their old processes. The financial institution reinforces
change by providing all employees with booklets as training materials if the employees need to
learn how any function of the teller system work.
References
Newstrom, J. (2015). Organizational behavior: Human behavior at work (14th ed.) New York,
NY: McGraw-Hill.
Raza, M. (2019, November 5). Lewin's 3 Stage Model of Change Explained.
https://www.bmc.com/blogs/lewin-three-stage-model-change/.