Patterns of Discomfort with Organizational Change

It is generally believed that individuals are predisposed to organizational change and have a natural tendency to react in the same way, regardless of the change. This study deals with this popular belief by determining the level of discomfort experienced by 321 employees of the same organization who were simultaneously confronted with three organizational changes: a structural reorganization, a relocation of the workplace, and a technological change. The overall results reveal that each change creates a distinct level of discomfort. However, at an individual level, these results overshadow the presence of two patterns of discomfort with change: a dispositional pattern for almost a quarter (23%) of respondents, for whom the level of discomfort remains identical regardless of the change, and a situational pattern, prevalent among 77% of respondents, for whom the level of discomfort differs from one change to the next. In addition, regardless of the occupational group considered, the proportion of respondents who show a situational pattern of discomfort with change is always much higher than the proportion of individuals who have a dispositional pattern of discomfort. These results bring an important clarification to popular beliefs by showing that although certain individuals have a tendency to react to change in a stable manner (dispositional pattern), this pattern is prevalent only among a minority of employees. For the majority, the situational pattern predominates.