Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water ...

22 | Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water Utilities
OVERCOMING RESISTANCE TO KM STRATEGIES AND INITIATIVES
Resistance can come from a number of sources within the utility: from individual senior
leaders, from department and division managers, from unions, from the governance body and from
all levels of the workforce. Any potentially significant organizational change creates uncertainty,
concern and often fear, all of which may result in workforce resistance. Overcoming such resistance
is a challenge to both leadership and management.
A core role of leadership is to ensure employees have a consistent understanding of the
vision, mission and purpose of the utility. By connecting the KM strategy or initiative directly to
the vision and mission of the utility through the anticipated improved performance, the leader may
reduce, or at least minimize resistance from the employees. Further, by ensuring that key employees
involved in the KM strategy are aware of its importance and contribution to the utility and by
rewarding those employees who contribute substantially to implementation of the KM strategy,
leaders can communicate to the entire workforce the relevance and importance of the strategy and
thereby reduce overall workforce resistance.
Leadership Support and Visibility
Leadership can help reduce resistance to KM strategies and initiatives by clearly demonstrating
interest and their backing of the proposed changes. Talking with employees and explaining
the purpose and benefit of KM strategies and initiatives demonstrates leadership commitment to
project success and lets the workforce know that the strategies and initiatives are not short-lived,
but are serious programs to enhance the utilities performance. Recognizing that people do not
change easily or quickly, implementation of KM strategies and initiatives requires continued leadership
interest, oversight, presence, and sometimes active involvement, coupled with the repeated
message that KM is essential to the future of the utility.
Potential approaches to ensuring that leaders of large and some small utilities achieve visibility
are included in the Ideas section of the KM Toolkit and include:
• Develop a short video, beginning with a two-minute opening by the senior leader of
the organization, and featuring project leaders talking about their early successes.
Have the senior leader hand-write notes to accompany copies of the video to managers
throughout the organization, asking them to ensure that every employee has the
opportunity to see and discuss the video with their supervisors.
• Develop pass-it-down training, beginning at the very top of the organization. The
concept of pass-it-down training is that leaders at all levels have the opportunity to
impress on workers and teams the importance and significance of Knowledge
Management and the specific initiative or strategy that is being implemented. This
process has the added benefit of ensuring that organizational leadership fully understands
the new initiative or strategy and how it will operate. Teaching and facilitation
are forms of learning and leading.
• Hold a Town Hall, featuring senior leadership, virtually supported (television, video)
to facilitate geographically dispersed organizations and stakeholders, with live connectivity
via telephone and computers. Much like a telethon, this event will offer the
opportunity for workers at all levels to interact with senior leadership, voicing their
concerns and ideas and receiving an immediate response, even if that response is: “We
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