Too Busy to Change: High Job Demands Reduce the Beneficial Effects of Information and Participation on Employee Support

Despite the abundant literature on organizational change management, the success of change initiatives in organizations remains low. In this study, we investigate employee support for change in the context of two change management practices (information and participation). We use the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to examine why these change management practices foster employee support, and the extent to which the efficacy of these practices depends on current job demands. Participants were 106 employees undergoing a building relocation at their place of employment who responded to an initial questionnaire at time 1 (pre-occupancy) and a follow-up questionnaire 2 months later (post-occupancy). We found that the TPB variables mediated the effects of information and participation on employee support (both intentions at time 1 and self-reported behaviors at time 2). The indirect relationships from information and participation to employee support were significant at low and medium, but not at high levels of job demands. The positive effects of information and participation on employee support can be largely attributed to employee attitudes and subjective norms. Thus, consultants should target employee attitudes and norms when garnering employee support, but also be aware of the limitations of these practices when employees are preoccupied with their work. This study demonstrates that the TPB can account for the beneficial effects of change management practices on employee support. It also reports the novel finding that change management practices are less effective at high levels of job demands.