The Personal Costs of Organizational Change: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

ABSTRACTEmployee stress rises and falls during periods of organizational change, but research has tended to overlook the consequences of stress that predated the change. Interviews with 31 employees of a New Zealand public sector health authority revealed that while stress was present to some degree before the change, for some of them the transition triggered negative reactions on physiological, behavioral, affective, and cognitive levels, largely due to perceptions of inadequate processes and considerable uncertainty. For others, the aftermath was more damaging, mostly because of the extra workload, deteriorating relationships, and fear of further change. Public sector managers need to be aware of the personal costs of organizational change for employees and aim to minimize them where possible.