How can a dispositional resistance to change cause emotional exhaustion (at work)?

Employees who face changes at work may experience increased stress that damages their well-being. How employees react to change differs due to their individual dispositions. When individuals are change-oriented, resilient, conscientious, cognitively flexible, and emotionally intelligent, they tend to handle change better. When individuals are dispositionally resistant to change, they will respond more negatively. 

What is the person-environment fit theory?

According to this theory, when individual characteristics fail to fit with environmental or organizational demands, individuals will experience higher levels of strain and stress. Individuals who are dispositionally resistant to change may experience a more pronounced misfit to demands of their organization during times of change, which may cause increased stress reactions and emotional exhaustion. The success of organizational change is highly dependent on the support and well-being of the employees. 

What is trait activation theory?

According to this theory, individuals express certain personality traits as a function of trait-relevant situational cues. It states that people are likely to act according to a latent personality trait when a current situation provides or lacks certain characteristics. The predictive value of a trait is specific to the surrounding circumstances, which are trait-relevant whenever an individual´s responses (or lack thereof) indicate their individual level of the respective trait. Looking at the work environment, it is possible that the activation of an employee´s dispositional resistance to change may vary according to the situational cues that are provided by relevant internal contextual factors. 

What are perceived organizational support and informational climate as internal contextual factors?

Perceived organizational support and informational climate are the two internal contextual factors (e.g. trait-relevant situational cues) that are being measured in this study as they are important in the change context. Perceived organizational support refers to the general belief that the organization values their employees´ contribution and cares about their well-being. It is likely that the level of organizational support is a cue that triggers employees´ dispositional resistance to change. Informational team climate refers to the perceived exchange of information within the team. A higher informational team climate may activate employees´ dispositional resistance to change as they share stressful thoughts. 

How is a dispositional resistance to change expected to be related to emotional exhaustion?

A dispositional resistance to change reflects an individual's tendency to resist or avoid making changes, to devalue change generally, and to find change aversive across diverse contexts and types of change. In this study two dimensions of a dispositional resistance to change are examined, namely routine seeking and emotional reaction. Routine seeking involves the extent to which one enjoys and seeks out stable and routine environments. Emotional reaction reflects the extent to which individuals feel stressed and uncomfortable in response to imposed change. Many changes can take place in the work environment and these can cause stress, strain, and emotional exhaustion ( the feeling of being over-extended and depleted of one's emotional resources). Especially a misfit between individual characteristics and the environment can cause stress and negatively affect the employee´s health and well-being. 

How can perceived organizational support moderate the effect of dispositional resistance on emotional exhaustion? 

Perceived organizational support refers to the employees subjective perception that the organization cares about their well-being. Perceived organizational support is positively related to performance, work engagement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. It is also negatively related with strain, withdrawal behaviors, and turnover intentions. Perceived organizational support has been found related to a positive evaluation of change and may be a boundary condition that can influence employees´ reactions to change. If the work unit shares a common understanding that the organization cares about them and their well-being, it may reduce apprehensions regarding the changes. Resistance to change as a trait may then be deactivated and may decrease emotional exhaustion. 

How can the informational team climate moderate the effect of dispositional resistance on emotional exhaustion?

The team climate refers to the shared objectives or vision, group participation and safety, team support for innovation, and the group´s task orientation. In this study they look at the informational team climate, which describes open and comprehensive information sharing. As colleagues share their perceptions of the changes and discuss their experienced strain, the change situation may become more salient. In this way, the informational team climate may activate a dispositional resistance to change, enhancing the perceived misfit, and cause more emotional exhaustion.  

What are the main results from this study?

• There is a significant correlation of change impact and emotional exhaustion. 
• The correlation of emotional exhaustion and position indicates that employees experience higher levels of emotional exhaustion than supervisors. 
• Both perceived organizational support and informational team climate significantly moderate the positive relationship between dispositional resistance to change and emotional exhaustion. 
• Perceptions of low organizational support strengthen the positive relationship between dispositional resistance to change and emotional exhaustion. In this case, the lack of certain situational clues (organizational support) increased trait activation. 
• Informational team climate enhanced the positive effect of dispositional resistance to change on emotional exhaustion. Open and frequent interactions between colleagues provide relevant situational clues that activate the trait of dispositional resistance to change. Exchanging stressful thoughts and experiences reinforces stress. 
• Employees without managerial responsibilities were more emotionally exhausted than supervisors. This may be because supervisors are more involved active participants who are aware of the change processes, whereas non-managerial employees are less informed and less involved and the changes may have a larger impact on their stress reactions. 

How can these results be used by organizations undergoing change? 

To avoid negative effects of organizational change on employees´ stress levels and their well-being, occupational health management should join personal and organizational development. They should develop integrated strategies to create healthy work environments in times of change. Trainers and coaches could provide support and identify and target employees that are high in dispositional resistance to change. They could offer support opportunities, enhance resources, and help employees adapt to changing job demands. With regards to perceived organizational support, organizations should examine if they are offering relevant help in times of change. For example, they could organize team-building interventions for work units, conduct surveys, or have group discussions.