A Study on the Impact of High Performance Work Systems on Readiness for Change amongst IT Sector Employees in India

Abstract

newline In today s VUCA world, an organization s capability to change has become a necessity rather than a novelty. Organizations are continuously under pressure to adapt to changing situations, with regards to client demands, increasing usage of social media, development in policies and procedures, and so on. A prompt adaptation to the constantly changing business conditions has been considered extremely critical for the success and survival of organizations (Tushman and O Reilly, 2013). To cope successfully with organizational change, the change management scholars argue that Change Readiness of an employee is of paramount importance (Armenakis et al., 1993; Armenakis et al.,2002; Holt et al., 2007; Weiner, 2008; Ghitulescu, 2013; Rafferty et al., 2013; Vaishnavi et al, 2018; Lokuge et al., 2019). According to a 2019 report by Mckinsey and Company1, 70% of change initiatives fail because of the organization s inefficiency in either assessing or creating Readiness for Change amongst the employees. Organizations in 21st century are always in a flux for adopting to myriad market forces for survival and growth. Change is a constant for these organizations. To cope up with any change process, scholars argue that organizations must work towards preparing the employees or creating change readiness amongst the employees (Armenakis et al., 1993; Armenakis et al.,2002; Ghitulescu, 2013, Shah et al., 2017; Khoo et al., 2017; Endrejat et al, 2020). newlineIn this regard, a number of studies indicate the significance of High-Performance Work Systems (HPWS) for influencing employee s attitudes and behaviours (B. Becker and Gerhart, 1996; Morris et al., 2006; Combs et al., 2006; Budhwar and Bhatnagar, 2008). The core objective of any change initiative is to manage employee attitudes towards change by fostering readiness and reducing resistance. Therefore, change oriented HPWS can play a vital role in shaping the employee s mind set and behaviour (Maheshwari and Vohra., 2018).