Exploring the Role of Managers' Communication Strategies in the Facilitation of an Organizational Change

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.