If you have to implement a continuous improvement methodology in your organization, how will you deal with resistance to change from various stakeholders?

First of all, I think before we consider the possible solutions, we have to understand what are stakeholders and then the possible reasons why they resistance to change.

What Is A Stakeholder? 

A stakeholder is a party that has an interest in a company and can either affect or be affected by the business. The primary stakeholders in a typical corporation are its investors, employees, customers, suppliers, communities, and governments(Fernando, 2022). Stakeholders can be internal(employment, ownership, or investment)or external(suppliers, creditors, and public groups).

Resistance To Change from Various Stakeholders

No matter the size or scale, people resist change. Overcoming this resistance to change is an inevitable challenge. A common problem that arises for companies with multiple stakeholders is that the various stakeholder interests may not align(Fernando, 2022), or even in direct conflict such as labor costs and maximizing profits. If a company may seek to keep these costs under tight control, it is likely to upset other stakeholders such as its employees. I think leadership is one of the vital elements of any solution to deal with these kinds of resistance. If leaders better understand resistance and successfully motivate those opposition to support for change, it would be a huge competitive advantage.

In addition, I have to identify the company’s stakeholder groups first. Then, I reckon that creating a value proposition for each stakeholder group targeting how you will create value for them may be helpful. This value creation for each stakeholder group needs to be balanced by what the business will gain in return. For example, switching a fossil fuel automaker to an electric car maker inherently feeds the fear of a possible massive layoff. However, we can provide training for employees to upgrade their skills and keep them aligned with the company. 

Usually, implementing a change inevitably means some trade-offs among the stakeholder groups, especially a big one. Leaders have to understand the levels of influence of the stakeholders. Some stakeholders may interact directly with the company, some were not. I think for companies to build a successful stakeholder management strategy to figure out what each stakeholder needs and how the leaders can best communicate with them.

Reference

Dolfing, H. (2020, January 3). How to deal with stakeholders resistance to change. Henrico Dolfing - Interim Management and Project Recovery. Retrieved October 2, 2022, from https://www.henricodolfing.com/2020/01/deal-with-stakeholders-resistance-to-change.html 

Fernando, J. (2022, September 9). What are stakeholders: Definition, types, and examples. Investopedia. Retrieved October 2, 2022, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stakeholder.asp 

(Fernando, 2022)