Explaining employees' evaluations of organizational change with the job-demands resources model

Purpose: Departing from the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, the paper examined the relationship between job demands and resources on the one hand, and employees' evaluations of organizational change on the other hand. Design/methodology/approach: Participants were 818 faculty members within six faculties of a Dutch university. Data were analyzed using multilevel analyses with faculty as the grouping variable. Findings: For the job demands, results show that emotional demands, but not workload, are negatively related to more favorable evaluations of organizational change. Regarding job resources, results show that support from the supervisor, job control, and opportunities for professional development is associated with more favorable evaluations of organizational change. Moreover, job control and support from the supervisor buffered the negative relationship between emotional demands and favorable evaluations of organizational change. Research limitations/implications: One of the clear implications of this study is that organizations should try to provide their employees with adequate resources together with the ascertaining of jobs with low job demands such that people can fulfill their job without severe adverse working outcomes. If it is impossible to reduce or optimize specific demands, additional job resources should be provided. Originality/value: The finding that job resources are important in shaping evaluations of organizational change perceptions is consistent with the idea that employees with enough resources will be motivated to do their job and to be motivated to participate in change processes. Employees, who perceive their work environment and their job as highly resourceful, are more likely to anticipate into a pending change effort.

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