Communication and attitudes toward work‐related change

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine one dimension of the interface between organizational communication and organizational change: the relative importance of selected communication variables in predicting attitudes toward work‐related change. A small plastics firm with three geographically dispersed branch plants was used as the research site. Both hourly and salaried employees (131 subjects) voluntarily participated in the study by completing a questionnaire. Four major conclusions were drawn. First, the best predictor of attitude toward work‐related change was the organizational relationships variable which included relations between co‐workers, superiors and subordinates, and the corporation and its employees. Employees who had positive work relationships had positive attitudes toward change. Second, to a lesser extent, the use of informal channels and the accuracy of formal channels were also significant predictors of attitudes toward change. Employees who relied heavily on informal channels were less receptive to change while those who perceived formal channels as accurate were positively inclined toward work‐related change. Third, job involvement, job satisfaction, and amount of information had significant positive correlations with attitude toward work‐related change. Fourth, information about specific change was very important to employees. The implications of these findings for communicating change in organizations were discussed, and possible future research directions were outlined.