Abstract
The pace of organizational change has increased and multiple change-initiatives tend to overlap, therefore, organizations are in need of resourceful, adaptable employees who can handle change on an ongoing basis. This thesis uses a micro-level resource-perspective to broaden our understanding of employee adjustment to change. We found evidence for the
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positive influence of psychological resources on adjustment outcomes. The main resources examined are: meaning-making, self-efficacy, organization-based self-esteem, as well as co-worker support, the quality of the leader-follower relationship (LMX) and change information. Results contribute to the literature on (predictors of) successful adjustment to change by introducing the notion of meaning-making, which pertains to the ability to integrate challenging or ambiguous situations into a framework of personal meaning using value-based reflection. Meaning-making functions as a personal resource during change and it predicts adaptation outcomes. Also, self-efficacy and organization-based self-esteem were shown to predict change adaptation; i.e. supervisor-rated adaptive performance and adaptive behavior respectively. Job resources that were found to have a positive influence on adaptation were co-worker support, LMX and change information. Besides direct positive effects, we found several indirect effects. Resources triggered motivational outcomes (work engagement / affective commitment) and positive change attitudes, which in turn positively related to adaptive performance. Apparently, the motivational process of resources leading to work engagement, translates into adaptation to change. Meaning-making stimulated the use of ‘natural reward strategies’, which help employees to craft their work environment. This, in turn, was positively related to work engagement. Job resources were shown to be reciprocally related to personal resources over time. For example, LMX predicted and was predicted by organization-based self-esteem and meaning-making. Over time, change information was shown to indirectly predict adaptive behavior via employee meaning-making. This means that change information before the implementation of change helps employees to ‘translate’ the change into something meaningful for them. Taken together, these findings expand existing knowledge on the relationship between work engagement and various behavioral outcomes. Also, this thesis contributes by examining antecedents of adaptive performance in terms of observed behavior. Implementing change and managing employee adaptation to change will always be a challenging, dynamic process, in which different perspectives at different levels need to be taken into account. In this thesis we have made an attempt to contribute to knowledge on individual-level factors, since micro-level adaptation will ultimately help to facilitate successful macro-level change implementation. Job resources, personal resources, attitudes, and strategies of employees, i.e. those who implement change, should be actively managed to foster happy and healthy employees in successful organizations. The interrelationships of personal resources and job resources may hold the key to further understanding successful change implementation. Particularly, the importance of employees’ ability to make meaning using reflection during transitions, was shown to be an important factor that helps employees to self-regulate their motivation, adapt their behavior and stay engaged and committed during change. Going forward, we aim to further translate our findings into effective interventions that help employees and organizations to thrive during challenging times
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