Reacting to change and how to navigate it in the workplace

Change is no longer an occasional disruption. It’s a constant reality—and it’s taking a toll on employees. 

According to a Gartner survey, employee willingness to support organizational change plummeted from 74% in 2016 to 43% in 2022 alone. Employees are facing “change fatigue,” burned out from rapid, successive shifts in direction. 

The stakes are high for leaders. Mismanaging change can lead to decreased performance, higher turnover, and lost trust. 

But if your leadership team understands how the brain processes change, you can minimize resistance, foster resilience, and sustain employee performance even during upheaval. 

Keep reading to learn how to use science-backed strategies to guide your teams through changing work processes.

Let’s start by taking a quick look at how our brains react to change on a scientific level. For the brain, change often means danger. This causes the amygdala (a cluster of neurons in the brain) to release stress.

Any time employees experience a new policy, restructuring, or shifting expectations, their amygdala triggers a "fight, flight, or freeze" response. This stress can impair decision-making, creativity, and focus.

The takeaway? Employees aren’t resisting change to be defiant or difficult. Our brains are literally wired that way. 

If you know how the brain reacts to change, you can take proactive steps to reduce the stress it causes.

The brain is hardwired to fill in missing information, often imagining worst-case scenarios. When your organization goes through change, clearly articulate what the change is and why it’s happening. Transparent and timely communication helps to mitigate anxiety and build trust.

What’s worse than change? Not knowing why something is changing. 

Explain why the organizational change is happening and how it will impact employees at the individual level. This will help them understand the path forward, enabling a more open and collaborative mindset.

Involve employees in the change process. This fosters a sense of ownership and turns potential resistance into collaboration by satisfying the brain's need for control and predictability.

Even with the right communication, it can take a while for employees to adjust to change. Encourage open dialogue and address concerns promptly. Resources like FAQs, regular updates, or one-on-one conversations can also help employees feel more secure and empowered during transitions.

Our brains create mental maps that help us navigate our relationships, responsibilities, and surroundings. These maps give us a sense of stability and predictability. 

During organizational changes, such as team reorganizations, redefined roles, or layoffs, our brains have to work overtime to reconfigure these maps. 

This process can create significant cognitive load that adds to employees’ mental fatigue. Continually recalibrating social and professional dynamics is one reason why organizational change feels so overwhelming for employees.

As teams and roles shift, provide resources that make it easier for employees to recalibrate their mental maps.

Clearly outline new roles, responsibilities, and structures to minimize uncertainty and accelerate the mental remapping process. Resources like updated organizational charts, training sessions, and periodic check-ins will also help employees navigate new structures more effectively.

Employees will need time to become accustomed to new dynamics and redefine their comfort zone. Avoid additional changes during this adjustment period and set aside time for rest. Set realistic expectations, promote work-life balance, and offer flexible work policies.

Create opportunities for employees to build social connections within restructured teams. Team-building activities or facilitated discussions can help establish trust and collaboration in the new setup.

The brain (the basal ganglia, to be specific) automates our habits. This is why you can drive home without conscious thought. These well-trodden neural pathways don’t require much mental energy. 

But change disrupts these pathways, and it requires significant cognitive effort to create new ones. For employees, adopting a new workflow, mastering a tool, or learning a new process means navigating uncharted neural territory. They need consistent practice and reinforcement to establish new habits.

Without support to solidify new behaviors, employees often revert to old, familiar habits. This can stall change initiatives and create frustration for both employees and leadership. Instead, implement change management best practices to help employees adjust to new processes and form new habits.

Overlapping initiatives can overwhelm employees. As a leadership team, prioritize and coordinate efforts to stagger changes and break them into smaller steps for gradual adjustment.

Learning is most effective when broken into small, actionable steps. Clearly define desired behaviors, identify skill gaps, and provide structured opportunities for employees to learn and reinforce new habits. Incremental milestones can build confidence and reduce the strain of mastering new processes all at once.

Learn more about Pluralsight’s hands-on labs.

Recognize and reward employees who successfully adapt to change. This will establish positive reinforcement loops and encourage other employees to get started.

Monitor how employees adapt to new processes. Where are they stuck? What are they having trouble with? Use that feedback to provide additional support or adjustments where needed.

In today’s fast-paced environment, leadership teams who understand the brain’s response to change are better equipped to navigate it within their organizations.

Remember, struggling with change is natural. Prioritizing communication, defining new roles, and helping employees form new habits will make transitions easier.

Managing a change in your workplace right now? Learn how Pluralsight can help you build custom skill development strategies to navigate changing tech needs successfully.