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Familiarity Breeds Content

June 10, 2002

New technology and constant organisational changes may seem a headache but new research suggests that, given time and appropriate conditions, employees may accept change and even
be happier after it than they were before. Research by Carolyn Axtell and colleagues from the ESRC Centre for Organization and Innovation at The University of Sheffield, suggests that employees with the most exposure to a change are happier and more willing to accept similar changes than those with less experience. In fact this seems to be a case where familiarity breeds content.

The study, which is reported in the Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology published on June 18th, looked at employees experiencing a change to new technology, which
made their work more complex. In general, those who had spent most time working on the new technology reported more openness to the change and were more satisfied. However, the
effect did not apply to all employees.

The researchers suggest that ‘those who feel more threatened or disappointed by the change become less open to such changes, whereas those for whom exposure to change represents an opportunity for greater involvement may become more welcoming of such changes’. Indeed, in this particular study, those with more exposure to the change were also better informed, prepared and had greater input to decisions than those with less exposure.

In practice the study suggests that trial runs of workplace changes, which provide employees with an opportunity for involvement and input, may be a good way to acclimatise employees and increase acceptance of change.

British Psychological Society (BPS)