[Organisational Change and its impact on Employee Engagement]

By

Acknowledgement

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I, [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

ABSTRACT

Changes in the environment of an organisation may necessitate organisational change. Research (CIPD 2007) suggests that organisations are undergoing major change approximately once every three years. An organisational change event may influence the performance of an employee and as a result impact the performance of the company. Employees make the critical difference between success and failure. My organisation consisting of 370 employees is currently going through organisational change and the employees appear to be somewhat disengaged and business performance is low. This study attempts to explore and identify the effects and links between organisational change and employee engagement and how to maintain performance.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Aims2

Objectives3

Research Questions3

Hypothesis3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW5

Change Process8

The Change10

Forces Of Change11

Organisational Change12

The Starting Point For Change15

When There Is A Need For Organisational Change?17

Scope And Depth Of Changes18

Changing Organisational Cultures23

Indicators Of Change24

Implementation of Change28

Resistance To Change30

Employee Engagement36

Employee's Turnover40

Importance Of Employee Engagement41

Why Culture Change Fails In Organisation?43

Why Culture Change Success In Organisation?44

Whether Culture Change Is Good Or Bad?45

Aspects Of Employee Engagement48

Importance Of Participation49

Studies By Consultants53

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY58

Data Collection58

Primary Data58

Secondary Data60

Content Analysis62

Graphical Method63

Comparative Analysis63

Chi Square Test of Association64

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS65

Employee Engagement* Business Performance65

Structural Equation modelling in testing the hypothesis73

Chi-Square test75

Hypothesis Testing77

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION80

Impact of Organisational Change on Employee Engagement82

Recommendations89

REFERENCES91

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Almost everyone wants to feel valued at work. To feel respected and trusted, to feel they have some influence over decisions that affect them, to feel successful and competent. Then there are more person-specific needs and expectations like employee security. Some employees like a very expressive, flexible environment, while others like a workplace that is more structured with fairly tight reporting structures and decision rights.

The concept of employee engagement is a way of better understanding employee attitudes to their job and employer, and subsequent behaviours.

Employee engagement has been defined as “the extent to which employees commit to something or someone in their organisation, how hard they work, and how long they stay as a result of that commitment” (Corporate Leadership Council), and “an employee's attitudinal attachment to his or her job and company, intention to act in the company's best interest and willingness to invest discretionary effort in achieving business goals.” (R.Jesuthan). Companies that place employees at the core of their strategies produce higher long-term returns to shareholders than their industry peers” (Bilmes et al, 1997).

Tower Perrin 2003 identified a set of workplace attributes that, in combination, are critical to building high employee engagement. The evidence suggests that the stronger these attributes are in the workplace, the stronger the level of employee ...