Methods for enabling collective employee participation in strategic change

Abstract

top and senior-level leadership, in the development and implementation of strategic change within organisations. In addition, strategic change research also tends to focus on the methods for enabling individual preparation and commitment to strategic change initiatives. Little is therefore known about the methods that enable collective employee participation in strategic change. In a business environment that is increasingly dynamic, complex and unpredictable, the collective participation of employees in strategic change presents an opportunity to increase the effective delivery of strategic change and enhance an organisation’s ability to adapt to and compete in this fast-moving world. Research evidence recommends that employee participation in strategic change needs to be embedded in dialogical or social mechanisms, supported by organisational behaviours that endorse interpersonal relationships that are founded on psychological safety and the value of diverse contribution. Within this context, this study explored the nature of methods utilised within organisations to enable collective employee participation in strategic change and gained a deeper understanding of the factors that influenced their application and resulting effectiveness. Through this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 research participants who were members of organisations, working within various roles that required decision-making capability around the methods utilised for strategic change implementation. Valuable insights were obtained from the study through instances where organisations had adopted a participative approach to strategic change using dialogical mechanisms and behaviours that supported, or were being shaped to support, the presence of supporting interpersonal relationships. Organisations within the sample that demonstrated an absence or partial use of a participative approach also provided important insights to this study, especially with regards to the barriers that prevented the use of this approach. The study was able to gain insights into the more immediate benefits of a participative approach, but due to the nature of the study, could not establish direct evidence that confirmed longer-term strategic results of strategic adaptability. This study makes a humble contribution to literature by providing a view of the current nature and utilisation of methods for enabling collective employee participation in strategic change within the current dynamic environment and provides evidence that supports the use of dialogical mechanisms, founded on quality relationships for the effective implementation of this approach.