How change information influences attitudes toward change and turnover intention: The role of engagement, psychological contract fulfillment, and trust

Sjoerd van den Heuvel*, Charissa Freese, René Schalk, Marcel van Assen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how the quality of change information influences employees’ attitude toward organizational change and turnover intention. Additionally, the role of engagement, psychological contract fulfillment and trust in the relationship between change information and attitude toward change is assessed. Design/methodology/approach: In a technology services organization that was implementing a “new way of working,” questionnaire data of 669 employees were gathered. The organizational change in question sought to increase employees’ autonomy by increasing management support and improving IT support to facilitate working at other locations (e.g. at home) or at hours outside of regular working hours (e.g. in evening). Findings: The results showed that change information was positively related to psychological contract fulfillment and attitude toward change. Engagement and psychological contract fulfillment were positively related to attitude toward change and negatively related to turnover intention. Contrary to what was expected, trust did not influence attitude toward change but was negatively related to turnover intention. Practical implications: The study presents a model that can help management to foster positive affective, behavioral, and cognitive responses to change, as well as to reduce employee turnover. Fulfilling employees’ psychological contracts and cultivating engagement is important in this respect, as well as continuously considering whether information about the organizational change is received in good time, is useful, is adequate and satisfies employees’ questions about the change. Originality/value: As one of the first studies in its field, attitude toward change was conceptualized and operationalized as a multidimensional construct, comprising an affective, a behavioral and a cognitive dimension.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)398-418
Number of pages21
JournalLeadership and Organization Development Journal
Volume38
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Keywords

  • Attitude towards change
  • Change information
  • Engagement
  • Psychological contract fulfilment
  • Trust
  • Turnover intention

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'How change information influences attitudes toward change and turnover intention: The role of engagement, psychological contract fulfillment, and trust'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this