Committed to change? Human resource management practices and attitudes towards organizational change

Abstract Organizations rely on human resource management (HRM) practices to steer organizational change, but little is known about the effects of HRM practices on employees’ attitudes towards change. This study aims to investigate the relationship between employees’ perception of HRM practices and their commitment to change. The sample comprised 221 employees of a public organization after it underwent an organizational change. Data were analyzed through structural equation modeling, considering HRM practices as individual predictors or as a second-order factor of aligned HRM practices. The results indicate that the model with individual HRM practices achieved a superior fit, but only two practices – communication and autonomy – were related to affective commitment to change. The model with a second-order factor of aligned HRM practices showed a clear positive relationship with affective and normative commitment to change, and a clear negative relationship with continuance commitment to change. Investing in HRM practices to support an ongoing change helps organizations to convince employees of the necessity and value of the change. This study provides empirical evidence that HRM practices are important for supporting employees’ commitment to change and encouraging their positive behavior towards change.