Imagine you're in charge of implementing a major change in your organization. It could be a new way to roll out marketing plans, a directive about training, different responsibilities and accountabilities for teams, or even a major organizational restructuring. You hope those kinds of changes sweep through your company like a tornado, with people carried along like so many Dorothys.

But it doesn't always work that way. Employees are slow to accept change and quick to embrace suspicion when it comes to changes in the way they are expected to perform their jobs. The ironic thing is, it's not usually the change itself that causes the trouble. Employees can be all for finding ways to save money or streamlining the workflow. The trouble comes from the way change is managed  or mismanaged, as is typically the case.

What's wrong with the way companies manage change? Here are some common mistakes, and fixes.

1. A lack of communication about the change.
I have a friend who is a trainer for a large computer company. Recently, his group was merged with another group and physically moved to another building. Nobody got layed off. That sort of change might not have been a problem at all, but management told employees nothing of the impending merger and move until the last minute. They found out bits and pieces through the grapevine, and management finally owned up to it less than two weeks before the move.

What might have been a simple matter of moving from one office to another turned into a tumultuous time of rumor and whispered gossip. Had information about the move been communicated clearly, the employees would have simply accepted it and started packing their boxes for the move to their new digs. As it was, employee stress levels were sent into the stratosphere needlessly.

2. Murky reasons why the change is necessary.
Any change, even the rollout of a new product or service, needs to make sense to the people involved. This is especially the case when dealing with negative changes like layoffs and increased responsibility (and stress) for remaining employees. Companies tend to try to put a positive spin on layoffs, but everybody knows there's only one reason to lose employees: Money. Tell it like it is, acknowledge that it won't be pleasant, and thank everyone for riding the wave.

3. Little support from the top.
Say you're a training manager and you've come up with a way to streamline processes and procedures within your department, and you've received the go-ahead from your CEO to implement the change. Great! It's crucial at this stage to get a vocal or written communication (even just an email) from the CEO announcing his or her support for the change. Employees will feel better about the change if they know it has support from the top.

4. Not soliciting employee opinion in the change process.
If you know a major change is on the horizon, ease employees into the idea by surveying them about it. Tell them about the proposed change and ask them things like: Do any procedures need changing in your department? How would you feel about a merger with another branch? What problems might stem from such a merger? What concerns do you have? Surveying your employees will allow you to involve them in the process and it will also give you a yardstick with which to gauge their reaction to the change.

Bottom line: Employees react badly to change because of their fear of the unknown. They wonder if they'll lose their jobs, whether the company will be around in the future, if they have a stable workplace. The more you involve employees before and during the change, the easier it will be for them to accept it and get on with the business of, well, business.