The role of psychological climate in facilitating employee adjustment during organizational change

Abstract

The current research tested a theoretical model of employee adjustment during organizational change based on Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) cognitivephenomenological framework. The model hypothesized that psychological climate variables would act as coping resources and predict improved adjustment during change. Two variations of this model were tested using survey data from two different organizational samples: 779 public hospital employees and 877 public sector employees. Confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation analyses were conducted in order to evaluate the models. Results showed that employees whose perceptions of the organization and environment in which they were working (that is, psychological climate) were more positive, were more likely to appraise change favourably and report better adjustment in terms of higher job satisfaction, psychological well-being, and organizational commitment, and lower absenteeism and turnover intentions.Effective management of the psychological transition of employees is integral in the achievement of successful organizational change (Bennett & Durkin, 2000;St. Amour, 2001 The research reported in this article was supported by an Australian Research Council Strategic Partners Industry, Research and Training grant held by V. Callan, C. Gallois, E. Jones, and P. Bordia. Financial support from the Department of Management and the School of Applied Psychology at Griffith University is also acknowledged. In addition, many thanks are due to Stephen Cox for his assistance with the structural equation analyses and Bernadette Watson for her assistance with data collection.Correspondence should be addressed to Dr Angela J. Martin, School of Management, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia. Email: Angela.Martin@utas.edu.au EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF WORK AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 2005, 14 (3), in higher levels of enthusiasm for future change, providing opportunities for learning and growth. Alternatively, poor adjustment to change is characterized by feelings of threat, uncertainty, frustration, alienation, and anxiety, particularly in relation to issues of job security, status, work tasks, co-worker relations, and reporting relationships (Ashford, 1988). Organizational change is a major source of workplace stress and is associated with a wide range of negative behavioural, psychological, and physiological outcomes (Ashford, 1988;Lokk & Arnetz, 1997;Roney & Cooper, 1997;Schabracq & Cooper 1998). A lack of attention to employees' psychological responses to organizational change is implicated in the failure of change programs (Kotter, 1995) and other important organizational outcomes such as impaired productivity, and increased levels of absenteeism, industrial dispute, and turnover (Eby, Adams, Russell, & Gaby, 2000;Mack, Nelson, & Quick, 1998).Little research attention has been paid to the development and testing of theory-based models of the psychological experiences of employees during organizational change. Such knowledge has important implications for improved chan...

Perceptions of Authentizotic Climates and Employee Happiness: Pathways to Individual Performance?

“…It is also likely that the perceptions of good opportunities for learning and personal development induce employees to get meaning for performing the job, to feel that they can develop their competencies and to put their full potential in carrying out the job. This is consistent with a prominent stream of literature arguing that employees engage more completely and invest their entire selves in the job when they perceive that the work environment is psychologically safe and meaningful and that it provides conditions to satisfy their psychological needs (Brown & Leigh, 1996).The findings corroborate Martin, Jones and Callan's (2005) observation that "employees whose perceptions of the organization and environment in which they were working (…) were more positive, were more likely to appraise change favourably and report better adjustment in terms of higher job satisfaction, psychological well-being, and organizational commitment, and lower absenteeism and turnover intentions" (p. 263). Parker et al (2003) also found that psychological climates "do have reliable relationships with employees' work attitudes, psychological well-being, motivation and performance" (p. 405).…”

The six emotional stages of organizational change

“…Organizational managers might not consider the impact of organizational changes on morale, productivity (Cascio et al, 1997) and satisfaction (Wah, 1999) of employees because their future predictions are based solely on beliefs or past experiences (Kotter and Schlesinger, 2008). This planning error in the change process has serious consequences for the organization, such as desertion (Brennan and Skarlicki, 2004) or absenteeism (Martin et al, 2005).…”

Consultants’ versus Managers’ - Perceptions of a Group Development Intervention Program

“…This theme was captured among the managers with groups that retrograde development. It seems that the managers and their attitudes towards the intervention remains of immense importance [3,9,10,[19][20][21] and since the narratives of their leadership were exclusive for the 'retrograde' managers and not shared by the consultants its appealing to interpret the statements as either a way of defending themselves against shameful associations [12] in that they were afraid of implementing the change [19], or as an expression of resentfulness that their specific needs were not being met [16]. The second experience, this time by the managers that showed progress, not shared with the consultants was statements about that they had wanted the fitters to have been involved in the workshops.…”

“…Middle management exerts a special position with regard to implementation of change [9,10,[19][20][21]. Middle management may implement the determining factor modulating whether or not a change will be executed successfully [19].…”

“…Middle management may implement the determining factor modulating whether or not a change will be executed successfully [19]. Available evidence implies that the managers who are most in need of change implementation are those showing most resistance and least capacity for change implementation [20]. Consequently, manager resisting change ought to be provide with additional support, and if persistently resistant will require relocation in order for change procedures to proceed [9,10].…”