Abstract
Purpose: The present study aimed to clarify the prospective effects of various types and frequencies of organizational changes on aspects in the psychosocial work environment.Methods: The study had a prospective, full-panel, repeated measures design. Data were collected by self-administered, online questionnaires, with a 2-year interval between measurement occasions. Five types of organizational change were assessed – company restructuring, downsizing, layoffs, partial closure, and partial outsourcing. The effects of change on eleven, specific work factors were measured utilizing QPS Nordic. At baseline, 12652 employees participated, while 8965 responded at follow-up. Generalized estimating equations were utilized to estimate the effects of change taking place within the last 12 months or more than 24 months prior.Results: Cross-sectional analyses, i.e., changes occurring within the last 12 months, showed all 11 work factors to be statistically significantly associated with the organizational changes restructuring, downsizing, and partial closure (coefficients ranging −0.28 to 0.04). In the prospective analyses, i.e., the effects of change taking place more than 24 months prior, associations were no longer significant for a number of work factors, although all types of organizational change remained significantly associated with at least three work factors (coefficients ranging −0.14 to 0.05). Following repeated organizational changes, statistically significant associations were shown for all 11 work factors (coefficients ranging from 0.39 to −0.04).Conclusion: Following both separate and repeated organizational change, various psychological and social work factors were altered, with the most pronounced effects following repeated change. These results suggest the implementing organizational change, especially repeated change, may have an adverse effect on various parts of the psychosocial work environment. The negative effects of a company’s psychosocial working conditions may contribute to the adverse health effects often observed following such changes and help explain why many change initiatives fail to reach its intended results.
Highlights
Organizational change has repeatedly been associated with adverse effects on employee health (Oreg et al, 2011)
The present results show that employees perceive their superiors as less fair and empowering following various types of organizational change, both short- and long-term
Results from the present study showed both short- and long-term adverse effects on job predictability and perceived future employability following organizational change
Summary
Organizational change has repeatedly been associated with adverse effects on employee health (Oreg et al, 2011). Largescale organizational changes, such as company restructuring, downsizing and outsourcing have been linked to somatic and mental health complaints, presenteeism and long-term sick leave (Kivimäki et al, 2001; Bamberger et al, 2012). Clarifying the repercussions of organizational change for workplaces and employees is an essential first step to preventing adverse health effects of and facilitating healthy, successful change. In order to elucidate whether extensive company change influence central aspects of the psychosocial work environment the present study aimed to clarify the effects of various types of organizational changes, separately and co-occurring as well as repeated over time, on 11 specific psychological and social work factors
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