Despite research on change management dating back a half century, businesses are still trying to figure out how to help people adjust to change. Most research has focused mostly on kinds of organizational change from compensation plans and organizational structure to new leadership styles and the transforming role of information technology. What’s missing is virtually any consideration of how changes in the workplace, the physical settings in which work is carried out, influence employees’ commitment to the new ways of working they imply.
Create a new workplace, and both understanding the underlying process implications and developing and practicing the skills necessary to perform effectively become significant challenges.
The purpose of this research was to study a selection of workplace change management processes used in organizations around the world, to learn how workplace changes are implemented, the cost of these efforts, and which aspects of the process most influence employee adjustment.