Department

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dept. of Psychology

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Dealing with change is a regular occurrence for organizations these days. Whether organizations must react to an unplanned change or have time to proactively think through the implementation of a planned change, it is important for organizational representatives (e.g., supervisors, executives, HR professionals) to recognize that the change can and will affect their employees. No matter the type of change, employees are likely to feel uncertainty, anxiety, and stress through the change process and may also think of quitting. Despite literature pointing out that support can be helpful during change, there is not much literature on how employees feel supported by their organization during change. Perceived organizational support (POS) is a well-researched, theory-driven, and practically relevant concept that describes the extent to which employees feel their organization cares about their well-being and values their contributions (Eisenberger et al., 1986). I will begin the talk by introducing readers to the concept of perceived organizational support and two types of change including planned and unplanned change. Grounded in organizational support theory, I will provide practical insights into how POS can play a positive role in helping employees deal with change. I will also include some takeaways from an empirical study of POS during the pandemic regarding staying connected with supervisors and coworkers during the remote work necessitated by that unplanned change.

Date

10-16-2021

Subject

Industrial and organizational psychology

Document Type

presentations

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Oct 16th, 11:30 AM Oct 16th, 12:30 PM

Fostering Perceived Organizational Support During Organizational Change

Dealing with change is a regular occurrence for organizations these days. Whether organizations must react to an unplanned change or have time to proactively think through the implementation of a planned change, it is important for organizational representatives (e.g., supervisors, executives, HR professionals) to recognize that the change can and will affect their employees. No matter the type of change, employees are likely to feel uncertainty, anxiety, and stress through the change process and may also think of quitting. Despite literature pointing out that support can be helpful during change, there is not much literature on how employees feel supported by their organization during change. Perceived organizational support (POS) is a well-researched, theory-driven, and practically relevant concept that describes the extent to which employees feel their organization cares about their well-being and values their contributions (Eisenberger et al., 1986). I will begin the talk by introducing readers to the concept of perceived organizational support and two types of change including planned and unplanned change. Grounded in organizational support theory, I will provide practical insights into how POS can play a positive role in helping employees deal with change. I will also include some takeaways from an empirical study of POS during the pandemic regarding staying connected with supervisors and coworkers during the remote work necessitated by that unplanned change.