The Personal Costs of Organizational Change: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT

Employee 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.

KEYWORDS:

• healthcare
• occupational stress
• organizational change
• public sector
• qualitative
• strain

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Roy K. Smollan

Dr. Roy K. Smollan is a senior lecturer in management at the Auckland, University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand. His research interests lie in the fields of organizational change, healthcare management, organizational justice, emotions at work, emotional intelligence, stress, and leadership. He has published in Journal of Change Management, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Journal of Management and Organization, Journal of Managerial Psychology, International Journal of Organizational Analysis, International Journal of Work, Organisation and Emotion, Leadership, and Time & Society.