Readers' Corner - Adapting to Workplace Change

Michèle Auger, Fred Longley and Edward Popoff
Departmental Library
Source: Workplace Gazette, Vol. 6, No. 3, Fall 2003

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Adapting to Workplace Change

Harvard Business Review on Building Personal and Organizational Resilience. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press, 2003.
HRDC HD49 H37

In today's rapidly changing workplace, resilience has become a highly desirable trait sought in employees. This collection of articles examines the characteristics of resilience, which apply to both individuals and organizations. Techniques are offered to solve problems when the usual decision-making tools are lacking, and to improvise quick responses to crisis.

Hiatt, Jeffrey M. Employee's Survival Guide to Change: the Complete Guide to Surviving and Thriving during Organizational Change. Loveland, Colo.: Prosci Research, 2002. Rev. ed.
HRDC HD58.8 H52 2002

This handbook describes the process of change and the role of the employee in it, and provides a set of practical tools-the ADKAR model-to help the employee manage change and attain personal and professional advancement. The model has five elements: awareness of the need for change; desire to make the change happen; knowledge about how to change; ability to implement new skills and behaviours; and reinforcement to sustain the change.

McLagan, Patricia A. Change Is Everybody's Business. San Francisco, Calif.: Berrett-Koehler, 2002.
HRDC HD58.8 M345

This practical guide aims to help the development of an outlook and techniques to thrive in change. Everyone in an organization has the power to be an active participant in change. The author examines the beliefs, character traits and actions that will help the reader take advantage of change rather than fearing and resisting it.

Williams, Allan P.O., Sally Woodward and Paul Dobson. Managing Change Successfully: Using Theory and Experience to Implement Change. London: Thomson, 2002.
HRDC HD58.8 W54

The authors advocate an active learning approach to assist in change implementation. They encourage review and revision of assumptions about change management by testing them against the experiences in the case studies provided and a sample of theories from the literature, and with one's fellow workers. This book discusses the critical competencies for change management, and offers insights in gaining the cooperation of others and in alleviating the stress of change.

Winters, Mary-Frances. Only Wet Babies Like Change: Workplace Wisdom for Baby Boomers. Chantilly, VA: Renaissance Publishers, 2002.
HRDC HD58.8 W56

For the large cohort of baby boomers, who began working in the stable industrial age and are now at mid- or end-career, the substantial and ongoing workplace changes of the knowledge era have often been difficult. This book is intended to help boomers rethink their concept of work and learn new skills to deal with change. Practical advice is combined with insights on tapping into personal strengths to embrace rapid change. 


NOTES 

  1. For other available references in French language only, see the French version of the Workplace Gazette/Gazette du travail.
  2. Employees of Social Development Canada and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada can borrow these items from the Departmental Library. Others can borrow them through their own library.