Changes in employee perceptions during organizational change

Citation

(2001), "Changes in employee perceptions during organizational change", Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 5 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/mbe.2001.26705daf.009

Changes in employee perceptions during organizational change

Changes in employee perceptions during organizational change

P.S. Weber and J.E. Weber,Leadership & Organization Development Journal,(UK),Vol. 22 No. 6, 2001

Examines the factors that affect employees' attitudes towards change, focusing on trust in management, their perceptions of supervisory support for improvement and their perceptions of the readiness of the organization. Argues that these are likely to be affected by the change process itself. Within this research, identifies variables that could moderate these employee perceptions – feedback, autonomy, employee participation and goal clarity. Reports the research which surveyed 88 members of a US Fire Department just before a new chief executive took up post and six months after. Notes that the new chief executive, who replaced a traditional bureaucratic manager, was known to be a maverick with a track record of implementing new quality management practices. Presents the results of the two surveys and finds that six months into the change initiative employees reported that their perceptions of supervisory support for improvement and organizational readiness for change had increased significantly with trust also increasing slightly. Concludes that this suggests that employees' support for change grew as they became more familiar with the new chief executive and the practices he wanted to introduce. Discusses how feedback, employee participation, goal clarity and autonomy contributed to this, identifying the different effects these had.

Quality focus says: Has elements of both theory and of applied research. Has implications for both academics and practitioners.