Examining the relationship between employee indicators of resistance to changes in job conditions and wider organisational change

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use a linked employer-employee data set, the National Employment Survey, to examine the determinants of organisational change and employee resistance to change and, specifically, to examine the influence of employee inflexibility on the implementation of firm-level policies aimed at increasing competitiveness and workforce flexibility. A key finding arising from the research is that while workforce resistance to job-related change often forces firms to seek alternative means of achieving labour flexibility, there appears little that firms can do to prevent such resistance occurring. The presence of HRM staff, consultation procedures, wage bargaining mechanisms, bullying and equality polices, etc. were found to have little impact on the incidence of workforce resistance to changes in job conditions. Design/methodology/approach – The objectives of this paper are twofold: first, the authors model the determinants of a measure of workforce resistance to job-related change and, second, the authors assess the impact of workforce resistance on the probability that firms will implement various wider forms of organisational change using linked employer-employee data. Findings – Workforce resistance to proposed changes in job conditions was found to be lower in organisations employing higher shares of educated workers and also in smaller firms. HRM and employee relations measures were found to have little impact on worker resistance to changing employment conditions, while trade union density was important only with respect to alterations to core terms and conditions. Resistance was found to be important for wider organisational change. Research limitations/implications – From a policy perspective, the key finding arising from the research is that while workforce resistance to job-related change often forces firms to seek alternative means of achieving flexibility, there appears little that firms can do to prevent such resistance occurring or mediating its impacts. The presence of HRM staff, consultation procedures, wage bargaining mechanisms, bullying and equality polices, etc. were found to have little impact on the incidence of workforce resistance to changes in job conditions. Social implications – The results support the hypothesis that the increased use of peripheral workers observed in many aspect of the economy is due, at least in part, to inflexibility among existing workers to take on additional roles and responsibilities. Originality/value – The paper utilises a linked employee-employer data set in a novel way to investigate within firm relationships and tests a number of hypotheses using advanced econometric techniques.

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