Abstract:
Organizations have been undergoing change more recently because of the shift to a more
digital-oriented landscape, among many other reasons. Human Resources (HR) managers, who are
usually the drivers of change in an organization, take the brunt of communicating change to the
employees. However, not all managers are equipped with the right communication change management
knowledge, which often leads to employee resistance, and ultimately the failure of an organizational
change. Lewin’s (1951) Three-Step Model of Change and Barrett’s (2002) Strategic Employee
Communication Model were applied as frameworks to explore the role of HR managers’ communication
strategies in the facilitation of organizational change through an exploratory case study. Data was
collected through four online in-depth semi-structured interviews with four HR managers from Company
X, and was analyzed through an inductive and semantic approach of thematic analysis. The results of this
study showed that not all components of Barrett’s (2002) Strategic Employee Communication Model
were used in every step of the organizational change in Company X; however, the change was perceived
to be still successful. Moreover, the results suggested that trust and the tenure of the team also play a
bigger role in reducing employee hesitancy. Lastly, this study revealed that the HR managers’
communication strategies roles are anchored on facilitating open communication, providing clarification
and support, and building trust and credibility within their teams.
