Soliciting and Using Input During Organizational Change Initiatives

Abstract

Scholars have documented many benefits of participatory processes during change including minimizing participants' resistance, increasing their satisfaction, and strengthening their perceptions of control. Ironically, evidence also suggests that participative communication approaches are underused. This study explores implementers' solicitation and use of stakeholder input during change processes. Twenty-six implementers from different organizations were interviewed and their responses were transcribed and thematically analyzed. Four general approaches to soliciting and using input were groundedly developed from these data. Findings suggest that the interviewees in this study tend to favor the "restricted" and "advisory" approaches to input solicitation and use. In the restricted model, implementers were highly selective about who was asked for input and aimed to disregard negative feedback. In the "advisory" approach, implementers solicited input more widely however were mixed in the degree to which negative feedback was used to make modest improvement in the change initiative.

Motivations, Expectations and Experiences in Being a Mental Health Helplines Volunteer

“…Organisational factors including expansion or changes in facilities can also have the potential to affect a volunteer’s sense of belonging to the organisation and has been described in the literature as a component of social identity termed place identity [ 57 ]. Volunteers may be unaware of future organisational changes or the reasons for them and involving volunteers in discussions regarding future organisational changes as well as gaining feedback from them prior to implementing these changes may be helpful as part of information sharing and co-design [ 58 ]. In the current study, organisational communication with the volunteers was inconsistent, e.g., some volunteers were not being informed about changes in their role or wider changes within the organisation.…”

Organizational Policy Communication Research: Challenges, Discoveries, and Future Directions

“…Additionally, policy development processes that facilitated the clarification of goals and objectives of all participants led to a smaller meaning gap between relevant groups (e.g., Doren, Trexler, Gottlieb, & Harwell, 2009;Guttman, 2007). Consistent with recent research on organizational change (Lewis & Russ, 2012), researchers point to both challenges and benefits of accounting for multiple stakeholder views in the policy process.…”

Examining the Experiences of Remaining Employees after a Coworker Dismissal: Initial Message Characteristics, Information Seeking, Uncertainty, and Perceived Social Costs

“…Dismissing (e.g., firing, letting go, or sacking) refers to an organization terminating an employment relationship against the employee's will (i.e., involuntarily). Large-scale, planned organizational changes such as downsizing and layoffs have been the context of most research addressing remaining employee's experiences after a coworker dismissal (e.g., Lewis & Russ, 2012). "Survivors" of downsizing experienced distrust in management (Tourish et al, 2004), job insecurity, and information deprivation (Casey et al, 1997).…”