Abstract/Summary

As organizations undertake significant transformation to compete and survive in today’s dynamic business environment, employees are required to engage their personal energies, not only in their day-to-day work but also in one or more change initiatives within their organization. Yet, we know little about how individuals devote energy to both the demands of change and to day-to-day work. Drawing on the job demands-resources model (JD-R), we develop and test theory that explains how employees direct and invest energy toward the pursuit of organizational change goals and how this engagement in change may affect subsequent engagement in work role activities. Results of a three-wave study conducted in a sample of 144 employees undergoing a significant organizational transformation revealed a positive relationship between work engagement and change engagement, which is particularly strong when employees experience the key resources of value congruence and perceived organizational support. Similarly, the relationship between change engagement and subsequent work engagement is also positive overall but strongest when employees are highly engaged in the change and highly involved in the transformation.