Readiness to change in Islamic banking: the significance of adaptability and Islamic work ethics

Purpose This paper aims to investigate Islamic work ethics and adaptability towards change readiness of Islamic Bank employees in Indonesia with commitment as a mediating variable. This study focuses on the Sharia banking industry, which is facing transformation from Sharia business units to Sharia commercial banks by preparing its human resources, thus minimizing resistance. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on a survey of 135 Bank Syariah Indonesia employees via an online questionnaire. PLS-SEM is used to analyze data and test hypotheses using SMART-PLS. Findings The results of the study show that adaptability does not have a positive and significant effect on readiness for change in Indonesian Sharia banks and organizational commitment. Meanwhile, Islamic work ethics have a positive and significant effect on the change readiness of Islamic bank employees in Indonesia as well as organizational commitment. This study also found that organizational commitment mediates the impact of Islamic work ethics on the change readiness of Islamic bank employees in Indonesia. Research limitations/implications This research uses a sample of employees at Sharia commercial banks (BUS) in Indonesia, so it is still limited to certain types of banks. Future research needs to test the model in different contexts, such as banks that still have Sharia business unit (UUS) status. In addition, further research needs to use other variables such as leader support for transformational change readiness. Future research also needs to control more variables and use a more complex scale than a binary scale (e.g. percentage of share ownership or area within a province or district/city). This study recommends that employee change readiness is very necessary to avoid resistance and resistance to the transformation and acceleration of Sharia banking in Indonesia. Originality/value This research looks at employee readiness for change in Indonesian Sharia banks through the lens of adaptability Islamic work ethics and organizational commitment.