The role of machiavellianism in employee reactions to organizational change - PEO Withdrawn (WITHDRAWN)

Abstract

In large-scale change initiatives, uncertainty and strain on employees tend to accumulate over time. Yet, changes in employees’ reactions during this process and the role of inter-individual differences have not received much attention to date. While some employees might leave the organization at the first opportunity, others might remain loyal. Here, we explore the reactions of high Machiavellian versus low Machiavellian employees during a transformational, long-term change process. More specifically, we propose a longitudinal (cross-level) moderated mediation model in which changes in employee turnover intentions over time are mediated by changes in work engagement, and the mediation process is moderated by employees’ levels of Machiavellianism. We find support for our model in a longitudinal study of 1602 police personnel undergoing a long-term, major organizational change process. Data was collected at three measurement points with a total time lag of 19 months. Results showed that employees’ work engagement decreased and turnover intentions increased during the change process, and that changes in turnover intentions were indeed mediated by changes in engagement. The negative changes in employees’ reactions during the change process were also significantly stronger for high Machiavellian employees than for low Machiavellian employees, in line with our hypotheses.