Organisational Change and HR Ethics
Change models and resistance
Candidates should know Lewin's unfreeze–change–refreeze, Kotter's eight-step model, the ADKAR model and Bridges' transition model (ending, neutral zone, new beginning). Understand drivers of change, stakeholder analysis, communication planning and the difference between planned and emergent change. Resistance is information: it may reflect rational self-interest, misunderstanding, low tolerance or genuine disagreement.
Ethics and the HR role
Know the ethical frameworks - consequentialist, deontological and virtue ethics - and apply them to confidentiality, fairness, surveillance, redundancy selection and whistleblowing. HR acts as guardian, strategist, employee champion and change agent, roles that can conflict. Understand procedural and distributive justice, and the duty to act consistently and transparently.
Traps in questions
Beware options that treat resistance as purely irrational, or that skip the unfreeze stage and expect lasting change. Questions may confuse Bridges' transition (psychological) with Lewin's change (structural). On ethics, watch for options that justify any action by majority benefit without considering rights, or that treat confidentiality as absolute when safety is at risk.
Worked example
A merger requires role reductions. Ethically defensible sequencing: define objective selection criteria, apply them consistently, consult meaningfully, offer support, and communicate honestly. Rule of thumb: ask three questions - does it respect rights, is it fair in process and outcome, and would I defend it publicly? If any answer fails, redesign the plan.