Leadership and Communication in Change Negotiations: Effects on Employee Experience
Pasanen, Sabrina (2024)
2024
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024053018599
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024053018599
Tiivistelmä
Organizations in Finland regularly employing a minimum of twenty employees are subject to the Co-operation Act. Under the Act, the employer must negotiate changes affecting the employees with them in advance. This discussion is called change negotiations.
In many cases the change negotiations culminate in staff reductions. While attention is often directed towards the ones who lose their jobs due to financial and production-related issues, the employees retaining their positions amidst organizational restructurings are also impacted.
The objective of this thesis was to illustrate the leadership, change management and communication aspects necessary during change negotiations and layoff periods to optimize the Employee Experience of the employees remaining in the organization.
The approach of this research-oriented constructive thesis was qualitative research. The data was collected with semi-structured interviews. The interviewees were individuals who have experienced change negotiations leading to layoffs but remained with the organizations post-negotiations.
The research results show that leadership, change management, and communication has a significant impact on the Employee Experience of the remaining employees. During and after change negotiations aspects like dialogue, proactive communication, transparency, emotional support, and a well-managed departure of laid off employees supports the Employee Experience positively. When these aspects are demonstrated it results in positive experiences, like trust, acceptance, sense of stability, commitment to change, and a sense of direction.
During and after change negotiations aspects like lack of dialogue, dishonesty, distant leadership, inconsistency, and inadequately managed departure of laid off employees impacts the Employee Experience negatively. When these aspects are demonstrated it results in negative experiences like distrust, stress, resentment, and burnout.
The impacts of change negotiations include decreased motivation, efficiency, and trust. It also negatively affects the team dynamics and organizational culture and decreases employees long-term career aspirations in the organization.
The concrete outcome of the thesis is a list of ten aspects organizations must consider before initiating change negotiations, aimed at safeguarding the Employee Experience for those remaining within the organization.
In many cases the change negotiations culminate in staff reductions. While attention is often directed towards the ones who lose their jobs due to financial and production-related issues, the employees retaining their positions amidst organizational restructurings are also impacted.
The objective of this thesis was to illustrate the leadership, change management and communication aspects necessary during change negotiations and layoff periods to optimize the Employee Experience of the employees remaining in the organization.
The approach of this research-oriented constructive thesis was qualitative research. The data was collected with semi-structured interviews. The interviewees were individuals who have experienced change negotiations leading to layoffs but remained with the organizations post-negotiations.
The research results show that leadership, change management, and communication has a significant impact on the Employee Experience of the remaining employees. During and after change negotiations aspects like dialogue, proactive communication, transparency, emotional support, and a well-managed departure of laid off employees supports the Employee Experience positively. When these aspects are demonstrated it results in positive experiences, like trust, acceptance, sense of stability, commitment to change, and a sense of direction.
During and after change negotiations aspects like lack of dialogue, dishonesty, distant leadership, inconsistency, and inadequately managed departure of laid off employees impacts the Employee Experience negatively. When these aspects are demonstrated it results in negative experiences like distrust, stress, resentment, and burnout.
The impacts of change negotiations include decreased motivation, efficiency, and trust. It also negatively affects the team dynamics and organizational culture and decreases employees long-term career aspirations in the organization.
The concrete outcome of the thesis is a list of ten aspects organizations must consider before initiating change negotiations, aimed at safeguarding the Employee Experience for those remaining within the organization.