Discussing Employee Push-Back on a New Software

Contractors are always interested in furthering their business undertakings. Advances in technology enable many decision-makers to focus on expansion, instead of day-to-day activities and they may not notice that there are reasons employees resist change.

But, what happens when your employees do not like the software updates implemented as a result of business growth? Of course, it is natural for employees to oppose change, but when the system is not working as anticipated contractors can incorporate the following methods to silence the negativity and increase productivity.

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Have a Town Hall Meeting

Town hall meetings are effective management strategies in the workplace if they are correctly executed. Within the construction industry, it is easy to ignore the benefits of these meetings since meetings tend to happen on the fly. Many contractors improve the effectiveness of their meetings through proper planning. Since employees are having a difficult time with the software, managers can structure a meeting in which employees have the time to air their grievances. It is essential for management to listen and make suggestions that are conducive to improving their employees’ experiences, in order to increase overall productivity.

Make Fixes Transparent

After the town hall meeting, management must keep employees in the loop. Every problem they fix should be communicated to employees. Communicating fixes will help them warm-up to the system, and it helps encourage buy-in since employees will feel that their managers listened to their concerns.

Managers can send out emails and post software fixes on community boards to inform their entire organization that corrections have been made.

Failing to make changes to the system transparent, fuels employee concerns in the business world. Instead of feeling as if their opinions are valued and the work they do for the organization matters, they may start to feel resentful and take measures to undermine the system. Publicizing the changes is an economical fix that prevents the situation from escalating.

Motivate Employees with Success Stories

During and after the town hall meeting, it is important to inform employees about success stories. Success stories will help them understand that the software is working to meet specific organizational goals in other areas. By doing this, it demonstrates that problems with the system they are facing with the system are isolated and temporary. Keep up your education efforts every time new software is added.

Many employees are not going to accept change immediately. When the change affects business systems, some employees find it difficult to adjust—it is worse when the system isn’t performing as it should. Fortunately, there are steps management can take to improve the rate of acceptance with their employees, including having a town hall meeting, making repairs to the system transparent, and motivating employees by demonstrating that the system does work in other areas. With this information, employees will see that the new system is essential to the longevity of the business and eventually warm-up to it.