Employee emotions such as fear and anger 'triggered by misunderstandings,' says academic
A group of postal workers staged a mock funeral outside a Canada Post sorting facility in Winnipeg last week.
A new sorting process is being introduced in a number of sorting facilities in Winnipeg, where some employees will sort while others deliver. The workers say the process adds thousands of steps to their routes and will eliminate jobs; Canada Post has said the reorganizing of processes has been normal practice since the mass uptick in parcel delivery.
The union representing the employees, Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and Canada Post are currently in the conciliatory stages of collective agreement negotiations.
The situation serves as a reminder for employers that change management isn’t always about AI and tech adoption, says one expert.
“If changes can help workers reduce their workload, help them enhance their work-life balance, there will be a great story,” says Jieying Chen, associate professor of management at University of Manitoba’s Asper School of Business.
“But if it is either leading to — or perceived to lead to — a situation where it's going to hurt workers, then it's going to receive pushbacks. At any time, changes need to be implemented with great care.”
Managing emotional employee reactions to change
The emotional nature of the workers’ protest sends an important message, Chen says, as it indicates serious objections that could — or should — have been addressed far in advance of any change announcements.
“I was [wondering] whether employees were consulted, whether they had an opportunity to voice their opinions during the process when the management was making decisions. And, also, did the employees understand accurately what those changes mean? Because, a lot of the time, negative emotions like fear, like anger, they could be triggered by misunderstandings and feelings of uncertainty.”
Emotional reactions to change can be avoided by including employees in the decision-making process and, most importantly, allowing them to voice their opinions at various points along the way, she says.
“If they can be briefed, or they can be given an opportunity to speak up during the change process, there's a high likelihood that management is going to receive more support for those changes compared to what's happening now — talking about job losses,” says Chen.
“In an ideal world, changes, or advances in technology, should benefit not only customers, not only employers, but also workers.”
How to implement change - job redesign
The workers, members of the Winnipeg chapter of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), said they’re “mourning the death of the pride of being a postal worker,” union president Sean Tugby said in a CBC News report.
"We are mourning the loss of the employer's responsibility to ensure safe routes and proper safety reporting practices."
An integral way for employers to avoid emotional responses from employees to organizational change is thorough job redesigns, says Chen.
With the postal worker action as an example, she explains that failure to thoroughly analyze any changes to employee job duties can lead to waste of labour and waste of time and resources, if the employees refuse to do the work or are not suited to it.
However, open consultation and training before, during and after job duty changes will help to keep employees feeling on board. Chen recommends a dedicated change committee be appointed, with employee representatives as well as from management and unions.
“That will help [with] frequent communication, empowerment and understanding … and some flexibility and less harsh performance evaluations during the change process.”
Provide change management resources to employees
In his president’s message in the Canada Post 2023 annual report, CEO and president Doug Ettinger said that reorganizing is necessary to keep up with changes in customer demands.
“An operating model designed to deliver nearly 5.5 billion letters in 2006 cannot be sustained on the 2.2 billion letters we delivered last year. This is not unique to Canada, but the impacts hit home,” he wrote. “Canada Post is now at a critical juncture — modernize and revitalize to serve a rapidly changing country or fall behind and struggle to keep it all going.”
Tugby told CBC News that the adjustment in the sorting and delivery process has led to an increase in route sizes, with the typical letter carrier now walking about 37,000 steps per day, up from 23,000.
Additionally, workers will begin their shifts later in the day, which could expose them to hotter temperatures during the summer and reduced daylight during the winter, potentially increasing the risk of heat exhaustion and encountering dangers in low-light conditions.
"We are sensitive to any concerns raised by employees, as this is a change, and draw upon the experience we have working with employees and the union over the last seven years on these changes," Canada Post said in an email statement to CBC News.
Diversifying workforce to alleviate impact
Framework adjustments can be made to workforces to proactively lessen impacts on employees due to organizational change, Chen says, by assessing for specific needs and goals and making scheduling adjustments.
By proactively surveying employees about considerations such as retirement plans, life goals that could be supported by transitions to part-time, and other possible flexibility opportunities, employers can explore ways to reduce labour costs efficiently, she says.
Employees can also be provided with opportunities to expand within the organization, all with the intent of keeping them in the loop and aware of their options, says Chen.
“Don’t leave people feeling that they're helpless, they're hopeless, and nobody cares about them… Can they still keep these workers and improve their standard of service, and increase the repertoire of their products, increase customer satisfaction, without having to lay off?”
