Adapting to Change: Relationships Between Personal Resources, Job Resources, Attitudes Towards Change, and Positive Outcomes in Times of Considerable Organisational Change

Abstract

Many organisations are undergoing changes in order to deal with economic uncertainty and financial instability. To avert a negative impact on employee well-being and motivation, the underlying processes that lead to positive outcomes need to be understood. The Personal Resources Adaptation Model provides a framework for studying the relationships between personal resources, job resources, attitudes towards change and positive outcomes in times of organisational change. Employees of a financial institution (N=164) filled out a questionnaire. A number of personal and job resources were shown to be significant predictors of positive outcomes such as work engagement and adaptive performance. The results indicate the importance for changing organisations to optimise various job resources, personal resources, and attitudes towards change, to improve the well-being of both the employees and the organisation, as well as the success of the overall change process.