Individuals classified as late majority in the Diffusion of Innovations Theory also tend to go with the flow. It may take them time to adopt a change. Nevertheless, change agents who are successful at implementing strategies for making change happen are able to influence such late adopters to speed up (White, “Anticipate Responses to Change”). Domagala describes the Life Changes Model that all adopters of change must pass through, the late majority slower than the others.
The Life Changes Model is divided into seven different stages of dealing with change. At first, the employee must lose his or her focus. Secondly, he or she must minimize the impact of the change to make believe that everything remains unchanged and stable as before. Third, the employee may find it difficult to deal with his or her emotions. After all, change accompanies instability. Fourthly, the employee must start feeling energetic while performing his or her job seeing that the change is unchangeable.
Fifth, the employee must remember his or her experiences before the change. Sixthly, he or she must try to understand the new circumstances to make them more meaningful. Finally, there is integration (Domagala). Research has shown that turnover may decrease toward the end of these stages, that is, the Life Changes Model (Domagala). In other words, the nurse leader who acts as a change agent must especially focus on the laggards and the late adopters whilst developing strategies for implementing change.
If these two groups of adopters of change are not provided adequate support during a time of transition, they may very well leave the organization for good. After all, laggards do not want any part in transition. They would like to maintain the status quo regardless of the organizational need to change (White, “Anticipate Responses to Change”). Of course, if the nurse who acts as a change agent is good at providing required education, in addition to feedback, support, and praise to his or her subordinates for adopting change, the transition may be smoothened for all.
It is also a very helpful strategy to provide clinical evidence to the staff about the need for and effectiveness of a particular change. It may be that the department has recently introduced nursing informatics, and there is researched evidence that medical errors have been reduced due to this change. Such evidence is definitely expected to reduce the employees’ resistance to change even if they have apparently adopted the change already. Moreover, the nurse leader may opt for customized interventions to educate reluctant subordinates.
The laggards and the late adopters can be supported through this strategy of implementing change. They may require more information than the others about the need for change (White, “Change Strategies Make for Smooth Transitions”). Still, most importantly, it is for the healthcare organization and the nurse to acknowledge that staff members have different intellectual and/or emotional needs during a time of transition. Just as they are required to respect organizational needs, they, too, deserve respect during unstable times.
References
Cohen, S. (2006, Jun). Change Agents Bolster New Practices in the Workplace. Nursing Management, Vol. 37, No. 6, pp. 16-17. Domagala, S. E. (2002, Jul). Capacity for Change. Nursing Management, Vol. 33, No. 7, pp. 34- 35. McCarthy, J. E. (2005, May). Five Concepts for Creating Change. Nursing Management, Vol. 36, No. 5, pp. 20-22. White, A. (2004, Feb). Change Strategies Make for Smooth Transitions. Nursing Management, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 49-52. (2004, Nov). Anticipate Responses to Change. Nursing Management, Vol. 35, No. 11, p. 13.