Is Employee Resistance to Change Really the Problem? Power, Leadership, and Employee Agency in Organizational Transformation: A Narrative Review
Keywords:
Employee Resistance, Organizational Change, Power Relations, Leadership Practice, Employee AgencyAbstract
Employee resistance to change is frequently framed as the primary obstacle to organizational transformation, yet contemporary literature suggests this framing is overly narrow. This narrative review examines whether resistance is better understood as a reaction shaped by power relations, leadership practice, and employee agency during organizational change. Using a qualitative narrative review approach, this paper synthesizes recent evidence across five themes: conceptualizations of resistance, power and politics, leadership and change reactions, employee agency and voice, and contextual moderators. The literature demonstrates that resistance is variably framed as a barrier to implementation, a sensemaking response to uncertainty and identity disruption, and a legitimate form of feedback or dissent that can improve change design. Power-laden change processes, particularly top-down control and symbolic participation, intensify resistance or push it underground. Conversely, participative, inclusive, and transparent leadership reduce resistance primarily through trust, communication quality, psychological safety, and employee involvement. The review concludes that employee resistance is often a diagnostic signal of flawed change processes rather than the root problem itself. Organizations are more likely to achieve sustainable transformation when they treat resistance as meaningful feedback and create voice-supportive, identity-sensitive, and power-aware change processes.
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