Antecedents and outcome of employee change fatigue and change cynicism

Abstract

Purpose

Organisations implement changes either to address real business imperatives or to follow trends in their industries. But frequent changes in an organisation often lead to employee change fatigue and change cynicism. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the change logic of appropriateness and the logic of consequences on change fatigue and change cynicism and the impact of change fatigue and change cynicism on change success.

Design/methodology/approach

To carry out this study, the authors collected data on a sample of 320 participants from diverse organisations, and they used structural equation modelling (SEM) techniques to test our hypotheses depicted in the research model.

Findings

The authors found that the change logic of consequences reduces both change fatigue and change cynicism, whereas the change logic of appropriateness increases change fatigue. The authors also found that change fatigue does not have any direct effect on change success, although it maintains an indirect negative effect on change success through change cynicism.

Practical implications

Along with other practical implications, the authors recommend that change managers help employees understand any logic of consequences that sustain their change initiatives. Additionally, change managers should work to prevent change fatigue from turning into change cynicism, which is the real precursor of reduced change success.

Originality/value

This study is among the first to show that employees experience change fatigue and change cynicism differently, depending on the reason underlying the change. It is also among the first to show that change fatigue does not affect change success directly but does so through the interplay of change cynicism.

Citation

Ouedraogo, N. and Ouakouak, M.L. (2021), "Antecedents and outcome of employee change fatigue and change cynicism", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 158-179. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-05-2019-0141