The effects of organisational change on employee psychological attachment An exploratory study

Employee commitment is a concept which has attracted much attention in recent years. Research has focused on relationships between commitment and various facets of individual performance and on the psychological basis of the commitment itself. Profiles the pattern of employee commitment found in an exploratory study of employees of a large retail bank which is undergoing a process of both structural and cultural change. Three bases of employee commitment – internalised commitment, identification commitment and compliance commitment – are profiled against the pattern of commitment which the literature suggests will be found across various employee grades. Evidence from the exploratory research is presented which suggests that major change may result in the (at least partial) dissolution of internalised commitment on the part of employees, coupled with a corresponding increase in compliance commitment. Implications for the organisation and the future success of the change process are examined, together with recommendations for further research.

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