Blurred Lines: Exploring the Impact of Change Complexity on Role Clarity in the Public Sector

Abstract

Over the past few decades, social, economic, and political developments have forced public organizations to continuously adapt to changing circumstances, casting them in ongoing cycles of organizational change. The continuous introduction of various types of change in an employee’s work environment may generate substantial levels of role ambiguity, which in turn could hamper performance and satisfaction. Given the increasing degree of change complexity in the public sector, it is surprising that no research has investigated whether more complex change is associated with greater reductions in role clarity. To gain a better understanding of how change complexity impacts organizations and their employees, we analyze survey data from the Australian Public Service Employee Census using propensity score matching. Results indicate that increasing levels of change complexity results in greater reductions of role clarity, suggesting that change trajectories sometimes exceed employees’ capability to adapt.