Impact of organisational restructuring on employee morale and health.

Abstract

In today’s world, organisational restructuring and change is a continuous, inevitable phenomenon, which impact and affects employees and organisations in various ways. The aim of this research is to determine how the restructuring process was planned and implemented by the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and if it had negatively or positively impacted the morale and health of its employees. This would assist to determine possible approaches on how any future change should be effectively managed within the organisation, to ensure there are no adverse effects on employees and the organisation. A quantitative research strategy approach was used for the study and the population consisted of all UKZN’s staff with a response from 136 participants completing a web-based questionnaire developed for this specific study. An analysis of the results revealed that there was a lack of consultation and employee participation, with staff not given an opportunity to give input in planning and implementation of the change and there was a lack of support and guidance from managers. An important finding was that almost 70% of participants reported that the change has impacted negatively on their morale and health at the institution. It was also reported that management had not implemented the process effectively; as a result, there was a lack of trust and confidence in management. There was also a lack of communication to staff and all relevant information was not accurately and timeously communicated. It is recommended that for any future restructuring process to be successful, a transparent and fair change process, together with quality enhanced communication of changes and employee participation and feedback is very important to ensure less stress related health effects are experienced by staff. Managers should ensure supportive restructuring mechanisms put in place to ensure healthy change processes and employee well-being is maintained.