The Effects of changes On An Organization

Abstract

The increasing attention from recent research on the employees’ resistance to change indicates the critical factor of employees’ perceptions during the implementation of organisational change. Thus, a broader analysis of the ‘effects on employees’ is required, whilst taking into consideration the important elements that enable an effective change implementation. The justification of the study is confirmed by the lack of empirical research assumed to establish employees’ perception of the factors that assist during the change process.
The study focuses on the research question; “What are the effects of organisational change on employees and the role of the manager?” The exploratory research aimed to address the gaps in the literature considering the move to the retail industry. The research considered what employees require to reduce uncertainty during organisational change by analysing the variables that enable incorporation to change implementation. Thus, in order to address the research question and test the hypotheses, a pragmatic approach was adopted using a mixed method approach to understand how employees perceive organisational change. Firstly, quantitative questionnaires were obtained to identify employees’ perceptions, as well as identifying the role of the manager in this process by means of qualitative focus groups. This provided a triangulation of the data to test the hypotheses and research question presenting soundness of the research.
The triangulation of the data established six main findings. Key findings of the research are the distinct variables of enablers for an effective change implementation considering the effects on employees during this process. The two distinct variables are recognised as intrinsic and extrinsic; in terms of the intrinsic measures the employees are able to employ control over the variables related to change (i.e. confidence and consistency). Conversely, the measures that employees are not able to control are considered as extrinsic (i.e. company efforts and company measures). Consequently, the variables suggest what organisations need to consider how they can facilitate employee empowerment, confidence, and commitment along with a sense of belonging.
The study suggests that attention needs to be given to organisational efforts and learning, which meets the needs of employees during the change process, as well as tailoring the needs for specific groups (demographic groups), in order to increase employee confidence through effective communication that minimises resistance.