The effects of employee perceptions of organizational change on health and well-being

Abstract

As organizations experience rapid change, employee health and well-being has emerged as an important issue. Changes in health districts are prevalent in Canada (OHA, 2002) and can result in psychological and physical stress among employees (Hylton, 2004). Organizational characteristics, such as increased support, job control and justice can reduce stressors due to organizational change (e.g., Bond & Bunce, 2001). However, research has not examined the effectiveness of these organizational characteristics to reduce strain and the negative health effects of change-related stressors on health outcomes in the mental health-care setting. Therefore, I investigated how change-related stressors are related to strain, burnout, and well-being and how justice, social support and job control may moderate the relationship between change-related stressors and negative health outcomes. I examined whether the relationship between stressors and strain was mediated by resistance to change. Staff (N=202) who were involved in a large-scale organizational change at a District Health Authority in Atlantic Canada completed surveys about their attitudes toward the change, the impact of the change on their work, and their perceived levels of burnout and strain. Supervisor support, job control, and procedural justice moderated some of the relationships between change-related stressors and burnout, but not between change-related stressors and strain. Also, the data showed a good fit of the model of change-related stressors, resistance to change, and psychosocial health outcomes and support for partial mediation of resistance to change in the stressor-strain relationship. Implications for organizations and the health-care sector and suggestions for future research are discussed.