Relationship of Organizational Culture and Readiness for Change to Employee Commitment to the Organization

OBJECTIVES: A study was undertaken to determine the relationships among organizational culture, organizational commitment, and organizational readiness in a sample of employees participating in a hospital-wide redesign process. METHODS: Employees of an organization undergoing patient-focused redesign were surveyed after a 6-month period of preparation and before the initiation of the new care delivery model. RESULTS: Organizational readiness, a variable rarely described in organizational change literature, was the strongest predictor of employee commitment to the organization. Constructive culture also was predictive, but less so than readiness for change. CONCLUSIONS: Additional research is needed to clarify how an organization's history and culture of change contribute to employee willingness to work for the goals of the organization. Findings suggest that when change is seen as a positive characteristic of the environment, employees are more likely to commit to the work of the institution.