Readiness for organizational change: Do organizational commitment and social relationships in the workplace make a difference?

Businesses are confronting continuous and unparalleled changes. For organizations to assist employees in being motivated and prepared for change, it is essential that managers, leaders, and organization development professionals understand factors that may influence individual change readiness. The purpose of the research study examined here was to investigate the relationship between readiness for change and two of these possible factors: organizational commitment and social relationships in the workplace. Four hundred sixty-four usable surveys were returned from full-time employees in four companies in two northern Utah counties. The findings indicate significant relationships between readiness for change, organizational commitment, and social relationships. Relationships were also found between readiness for change and number of children, social relationships and gender, and organization commitment or one of its three components (identification, job involvement, and loyalty) and employee age, educational level, and gender.