Abstract
The frequency of change in the business world has increased exponentially and will continue into the foreseeable future. Organisations must change to remain relevant and competitive. How employees adapt and cope with these frequent changes will determine the success with which organisations are able to address the change and remain competitive.
The purpose of the research was to confirm the existence of change fatigue in the organisational ecosystem, then to understand how change fatigue impacts employee work engagement and turnover intention. The research then determined whether moderators (perception of social context and self-efficacy) had any effect on the relationship between change fatigue and work engagement and change fatigue and turnover intention.
This quantitative study, using a cross-sectional field design was motivated by the need for organisations to understand that change fatigue does exist in the organisational ecosystem and that change fatigue does have a direct negative impact on both work engagement and turnover intention. Significant research exists that identifies the individual symptoms of change fatigue, such as stress, anxiety, disengagement, and burnout, to name but a few, and this research aimed to show how these individual factors contributed to a bigger issue, namely change fatigue. In addition, the aim was to determine how change fatigue directly impacts key strategic people resources through work engagement and turnover intentions, both of which impact organisational performance. A non-probability sampling approach was used, and a convenience sampling technique selected. The sample size consisted of 276 responses. The data were collected using reliable and validated instruments. The data were analysed using SPSS. Reliability analysis was conducted on the measuring instruments. Pearson correlation and multiple regression techniques were used to conduct the statistical analysis. EQS version 6.4 was used to conduct the confirmatory factor analysis in the study.
The findings confirmed that change fatigue did have a significant impact on work engagement and turnover intention. The finding, as to the impact of change fatigue and its presence in organisations builds strongly on existing knowledge. It was also found that as change fatigue increased in an employee so work engagement decreased. The research then found that as change fatigue increased, so turnover intention also increased. Perceptions of social context was found to be the only moderator that moderated the relationship between change fatigue and work engagement. Perceptions of social context however did not moderate the relationship between change fatigue and turnover intention. Self-efficacy as a moderator was found to not moderate the relationship between change fatigue and turnover intention and did not moderate the relationship between change fatigue and work engagement.
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An implication from this research is that organisations must ensure that there is a balance between job demands and job resources during frequent change. Organisations must ensure that employees have adequate job resources to cope and manage during change, and management must create a psychologically safe and supportive environment so that employees feel safe and supported. Failure to provide job resources and to only focus on job demands will be to the detriment of the employee and the organisation.
This research has added significantly to the available data on change fatigue and the direct effect that it has on both the employee and the organisation.