Mastering the Process of Organizational Change: Stages and Strategies

Change in an organization rarely arrives quietly. A new booking system, a merger between two hotel chains, a sudden shift in traveller preferences, or even a global pandemic can shake an entire workplace. The question is not whether change will come, but how well an organization can move through it. Decades ago, social psychologist Kurt Lewin offered a surprisingly simple yet powerful answer: a three-stage process called unfreeze, move, and refreeze. This framework, supported by ideas like quasi-stationary equilibrium and force field analysis, still guides modern change management in tourism, hospitality, and beyond.

Why organizations need a structured approach to change 🔗

Organizations are living systems. They respond to internal pressures (employee dissatisfaction, leadership transitions, outdated processes) and external pressures (new technology, competition, regulatory shifts, economic disruptions). Without a structured method, change often becomes chaotic, with confused employees, half-implemented systems, and eventual return to old habits.

According to research from Prosci, projects with excellent change management are seven times more likely to meet or exceed objectives compared to those with poor change management . That single statistic explains why managers across industries continue to rely on time-tested models like Lewin’s, even after more than seventy years.

The foundation: Quasi-stationary equilibrium 🔗

Before exploring the three stages, it helps to understand the idea Lewin built his model on. He argued that what looks like a stable organization is not really frozen in place. Instead, it sits in what he called a quasi-stationary equilibrium, a situation that appears stable but is actually held together by opposing pressures.

Think of a river. The water keeps flowing, yet the riverbank looks unchanged. Similarly, in force field analysis, change is characterised as a state of imbalance between driving forces (e.g. new personnel, changing markets, new technology) and restraining forces (e.g. individuals’ fear of failure, organisational inertia) . As long as these two sets of forces balance each other, the organization stays where it is, even if change is desperately needed.

Driving forces and restraining forces 🔗

Driving forces push an organization toward change. They include market competition, technological advancements, customer expectations, leadership vision, and globalization. Restraining forces, in contrast, hold the organization back. These are usually fears about job loss, comfort with old routines, lack of skills, weak leadership support, or simple cultural inertia.

Lewin’s most counterintuitive insight was about how to handle these forces. A focus on reducing restraining forces is more effective in bringing about change than a focus on increasing driving forces . Pushing harder often creates more resistance. Removing the obstacles, on the other hand, allows existing motivation to do its work.

For a hotel introducing a new property management system, this means that simply telling staff to “move faster” or “stop resisting” rarely works. Addressing the actual fears, such as worry about losing one’s job to automation or feeling unprepared for new technology, is far more effective.

Stage 1: Unfreezing 🔗

The first stage is about preparation. Lewin compared it to thawing a block of ice. Before water can take a new shape, it must first stop being ice. In organizational terms, employees must let go of established habits, beliefs, and routines before they can adopt new ones.

According to classic descriptions of the model, unfreezing involves improving the readiness as well as the willingness of people to change by fostering a realization for moving from the existing comfort zone to a transformed situation . This is one of the hardest stages, because most people prefer the predictability of the present.

Key activities during unfreezing 🔗

Effective unfreezing rests on three pillars. First, recognizing the need for change. Leaders must clearly identify why the current situation cannot continue. Falling profits, declining guest reviews, employee dissatisfaction, or new competition can all serve as triggers. Second, communicating the urgency. Employees must understand why change matters and how it will benefit them, the customer, and the organization. Without this honesty, rumours fill the silence. Third, weakening restraining forces by addressing fears, training gaps, and cultural resistance.

Unfreezing in tourism: a practical view 🔗

Consider a mid-sized travel agency that still depends on offline bookings and printed brochures while competitors thrive online. The unfreezing stage would involve sharing data on declining walk-ins, showing how online travel agencies dominate younger travellers, and openly discussing the agency’s long-term survival. Transparency is critical. As change theorists note, the more transparent and inclusive the process is, the more readily people move through the unfreezing stage .

Stage 2: Moving (or changing) 🔗

Once the organization is ready, the actual transition begins. This middle stage is when new systems, behaviours, structures, or strategies are introduced. It is also the most uncertain phase, because old ways are gone but new ways have not yet become natural.

The change stage may involve reorganizing teams, introducing new technology, redesigning service standards, modifying job roles, or shifting organizational culture. During this transition, organizations implement new behaviors, processes, and beliefs . People may feel anxious, productivity may dip temporarily, and questions multiply.

Common challenges in the moving stage 🔗

Resistance does not vanish just because unfreezing was done well. Employees may struggle to learn new technology, miss old colleagues after a restructure, or doubt whether the change will actually help. Strong leadership is essential here. Managers must communicate frequently, celebrate small wins, and support employees through training, mentoring, and open dialogue.

This is also the time to involve people in the change. Hospitality experts highlight that when employees feel heard and understand the reasoning behind changes, they are more likely to support and participate in the transition . Front-line staff in hotels, airlines, and tour operators interact with guests every day. Their feedback often reveals practical issues that leadership cannot see from above.

A real-world example from hospitality 🔗

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the hospitality industry into a forced moving stage. Hilton’s CleanStay programme is a strong illustration. Hilton successfully navigated the COVID-19 crisis by implementing its CleanStay program, which introduced rigorous new cleaning protocols in partnership with Lysol and the Mayo Clinic . The change addressed an urgent guest concern about safety while also redefining hygiene standards across the industry. Marriott, similarly, launched its “Work Anywhere” programme to repurpose hotel rooms for remote workers, capturing a new market segment that emerged during the pandemic.

Stage 3: Refreezing 🔗

The final stage is about making the change stick. Without refreezing, organizations slip back into old habits. A new system goes unused, a redesigned service standard fades, and the change effort is wasted.

Important refreezing activities include modifying the organizational structure, culture and policies to align with the change and reinforce the new way of working; providing employee training and support to make employees comfortable and eliminate anxiety and doubts; and establishing quantitative metrics to measure success and communicate progress .

Embedding change into culture 🔗

Refreezing is more than a celebration. It involves rewriting policies, updating training manuals, redesigning onboarding for new hires, recognizing employees who have adopted the new approach, and embedding the change into performance reviews. The goal is for the new behaviour to feel normal rather than new.

For example, when a hotel chain shifts from manual reporting to a cloud-based revenue management system, refreezing would mean updating standard operating procedures, including cloud literacy in recruitment criteria, and rewarding teams that use data effectively. Over time, the new way becomes “how we do things here”.

Refreezing in a fast-changing world 🔗

One common criticism of Lewin’s model is that today’s environment never stops shifting, so “refreezing” can sound out of date. Modern interpretations address this by reframing the stage. Refreezing does not mean rigidity-it means embedding the change so it is sustained over time. In dynamic environments, this stage is sometimes reframed as “rebalancing” rather than locking into a permanent new state . The point is not to freeze forever, but to consolidate before the next cycle of change begins.

Strategies that make the process work 🔗

Knowing the three stages is only the beginning. Successful organizations apply specific strategies that turn theory into practice. The tourism and hospitality sector, with its high staff turnover, customer-facing nature, and constant exposure to global trends, depends heavily on these techniques.

Clear vision and strong communication 🔗

Every change initiative needs a vision people can understand. Leaders should explain not just what is changing but also why and how it benefits everyone. Communication should be two-way. Town halls, anonymous feedback channels, and team meetings help surface concerns early.

Employee involvement 🔗

Change imposed from above usually fails. Bringing employees into planning, piloting, and evaluating the change builds ownership. In hotels, this might mean letting front-desk staff test a new check-in app before rolling it out chain-wide.

Training and support 🔗

New systems require new skills. Without training, even motivated employees feel lost. Continuous learning, peer mentoring, and accessible help resources reduce anxiety and accelerate adoption.

Pilot programmes 🔗

Testing change on a small scale reduces risk. A tour operator launching a new digital itinerary platform might pilot it in one region first, gather feedback, fix issues, and then expand nationally. This approach catches problems early and builds confidence.

Measuring progress 🔗

What gets measured gets managed. Key performance indicators such as guest satisfaction, employee engagement, error rates, and productivity help leaders track whether the change is delivering results, or whether adjustments are needed.

Limitations to keep in mind 🔗

No model is perfect. Lewin’s framework has been criticized for being too linear and for assuming that organizations can return to a stable state. Modern critics point out that in dynamic environments where external factors rapidly evolve, organizations may need more flexible models to adapt in real time . Industries like tourism, where seasonal demand, geopolitical events, and consumer preferences shift constantly, often experience overlapping change cycles rather than neat sequential ones.

Still, the model’s strength lies in its clarity. It gives managers a mental map for thinking about change and reminds them that preparation, action, and consolidation each deserve attention. Many newer frameworks, including ADKAR and Kotter’s eight-step model, build on Lewin’s foundation rather than replacing it.

Bringing it together 🔗

The process of organizational change is not a single event but a journey with three connected stages. Unfreezing prepares the ground by challenging the status quo and reducing resistance. Moving introduces new behaviours, structures, or strategies while supporting people through uncertainty. Refreezing locks in the change by embedding it into culture, policy, and daily routines. Underlying all three stages is the dynamic balance between driving and restraining forces, the quasi-stationary equilibrium that defines every organization’s current reality.

For the tourism and hospitality sector, where customer expectations evolve quickly and disruptions are frequent, mastering this process is not optional. It is a survival skill. Organizations that can unfreeze old assumptions, move toward new approaches, and refreeze meaningful improvements will be the ones that grow through every storm and trend.

What do you think? If you were leading a hotel team through a major shift, such as adopting an AI-powered concierge or rolling out a sustainability programme, which stage do you believe would be the hardest to manage well, and why? And in a tourism business, do you think it is more effective to push harder on the driving forces or to focus on weakening the restraining forces that hold the team back?

References

1. https://www.prosci.com/blog/lewins-change-theory
2. https://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/research/dstools/force-field-analysis/
3. https://methods.sagepub.com/ency/edvol/encyclopedia-of-action-research/chpt/force-field-analysis
4. https://www.managementstudyguide.com/kurt-lewins-change-management-model.htm
5. https://cjni.net/journal/?p=1210
6. https://www.bmc.com/blogs/lewin-three-stage-model-change/
7. https://changeadaptive.com/change-management-hospitality/
8. https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Kurt-Lewins-Change-Management-Model-Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze
9. https://bcltraining.com/learning-library/lewins-change-model/