12/9/2019
Potential ‘change’ impact on employees
Potential ‘change’ impact on employees
Impact on Mental Stress • A 2017 study by the American Psychological Association concluded that 55 percent of people who said they experienced organizational change at work reported feeling chronic stress, compared with 22 percent by people who didn't have organizational upheaval. • 35 percent said they felt physical symptoms from their stress at work, compared with only 8 percent having such symptoms when they weren't experiencing organizational changes at work. • There may be many causes for increased stress levels, including perceived injustices or unfairness, lack of timely communication by management or fear of future changes.
Loss of Loyalty and Increased Turnover • Many companies look to salaries and benefits as the first places to cut back when looking to make changes that involve cost-saving. When this happens, it is inevitable that some employees will leave the company to seek employment elsewhere. • The employees that remain, whether they stay voluntarily or because they could not find employment elsewhere, may become resentful. Motivation decreases, taking job performance along with it. Employees lose their company loyalty and may even become angry enough to purposefully sabotage the company.
Potential ‘change’ impact on employees
Potential ‘change’ impact on employees
Increased Time Away From Work • When organizational changes are announced, particularly when there is downsizing involved, employees generally divide into one of two groups: those who will attempt to control their fate and those who want to get out before the changes occur. The group taking control will usually dig in, increase their productivity, hit their deadlines and do everything they can to shine in front of their managers hoping they will sail through the changes with their job intact. • The remaining employees cope with the changes by avoiding them. You may see these employees taking longer lunch hours, coming in later and leaving earlier or simply not coming into the office at all. Whether they are looking for new jobs or simply avoiding the office, expect to see an increase in employee sick days while you carry out the organizational changes.
Life Changes Caused by Restructuring • Some organizational changes require major restructuring, resulting in sweeping life changes for a number of employees. Typical changes that negatively impact a portion of the employees are salary cuts, loss of benefits, downgrading in job position, job loss or relocation to another city, state or country. All of these can be devastating changes to employees, particularly those who are supporting families. • The best way to handle these changes while keeping the morale up of the remaining or unaffected employees is by communicating with all of the employees every step of the way and treating the affected employees with fairness and compassion.
Other Impacts of Organizational Change on Employees
The Impact of Change
• Change-related stress • Effect on attitudes • Employee cynicism • Trust in organization matters
1-3 key takeaways from this section
APA's 2017 Work and Well-Being Survey
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