As a manager, how would you deal with resistance to change in your company when you suspect that employees’ fears of job loss are well founded?

As a manager, how would you deal with resistance to change in your company when you suspect that employees’ fears of job loss are well founded?  Is there an offsetting positive that you can use to satisfy workers?  How would you go about communicating the overall story of why change is needed?

MANAGEMENT SKILLS A manager’s job is complex and multidimensional and, as we shall see throughout this book, requires a range of skills. Although some management theorists propose a long list of skills, the necessary skills for managing a department or an organization can be summarized in three categories: conceptual, human, and technical.13 As illus- trated in Exhibit 1.2, the application of these skills changes as managers move up in the organization. Although the degree of each skill necessary at different levels of an organization may vary, all managers must possess skills in each of these important areas to perform effectively.

Conceptual Skills Conceptual skill is the cognitive ability to see the organization as a whole system and the relationships among its parts. Conceptual skill involves the manager’s think- ing, information processing, and planning abilities. It involves knowing where one’s department fi ts into the total organization and how the organization fi ts into the industry, the community, and the broader business and social environment. It means the ability to think strategically—to take the broad, long-term view—and to identify, evaluate, and solve complex problems