How does leader communication style promote employees’ commitment at times of change?

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the structure of leader communication style in the context of organizational change. In doing so, the authors intend to shed more light on how leaders can effectively communicate change projects to their subordinates, which is viewed as the key to implementing change initiatives. Design/methodology/approach – This paper builds an integrated conceptual model for understanding leader’s communication style and subordinates’ commitment to change. By analyzing subordinates’ different fears of change, the paper further proposes a multidimensional structure of leader communication style in the context of change. The authors then develop a scale to measure these different dimensions and test the relationship between the proposed communication style and subordinates’ affective commitment to change. Findings – Leader communication style in the context of change is found to be composed of five dimensions: hope orientation, reality orientation, subordinate orientation, support orientation, and enforcement orientation. A cross-level field study of 31 teams and 194 members shows that hope orientation, subordinate orientation, and support orientation are positively associated with subordinates’ affective commitment to change. Originality/value – This paper identifies a new structure of leader communication style that will lead to a richer understanding of how leaders communicate to their subordinates in the context of change. It also contributes to the leadership literature by implying effective ways of communicating change projects.

An identification‐based model of workplace incivility and employee creativity: evidence from China

“…; Luo et al. ). It is noteworthy that employees’ PIS is largely influenced by how well they are getting along with other members, especially those who can help employees to define themselves and confirm their self‐worth.…”

“…For example, organizations could provide more support to employees and show concern for employees' contribution and well-being, offer more opportunities for employees to engage in pro-diversity practice, and design more practices that can satisfy employees' need for self-worth. These employee-orientated practices would be more effective in Chinese organizations that put a lot emphasis on relationships and group harmony (Huang et al 2016;Luo et al 2016). It is noteworthy that employees' PIS is largely influenced by how well they are getting along with other members, especially those who can help employees to define themselves and confirm their self-worth.…”

Generational Differences and COVID-19: Positive Interactions in Virtual Workplaces

“…First, to unfreeze they should communicate why moving online is necessary to survival in order to change the attitudes of resistors (Schulz-Knappe et al, 2019); identify champions that are able to advocate to age-diverse colleagues for this change (Jansen et al, 2016); seek input from organizational members at all levels on how to go about this change (Petrou et al, 2018); and provide resources (such as training and access to technology but also emotional support, feedback, and information) to enable to the change (Smollan, 2017). To actually make the change, they should communicate policies for how work is to be done from home (addressing process, technology, and communication guidelines) in order to build commitment (Luo et al, 2016); formally close down nonessential physical workspaces so that workers will unlearn previous ways of working and not slip back into old habits, processes, and methods of communication (Klammer & Gueldenberg, 2019); and provide additional assistance to help them transition to working from home (Rocker, 2016). Lastly, to refreeze the change, policy makers will need to continue communicating with organizational members on how to engage in at home work and interactions with colleagues.…”

Critical leadership and set-up-to-fail syndrome

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