Manager vs. Employee Perceptions of Adaptability and Work Performance

Abstract Employees adapting to workplace change display a wide variety of responses. Some employees thrive through a change while others cease functioning. Further, manager's perceptions of employee adaptability and performance vary widely as well. This empirical field study focused on the differences between employee and manager perceptions of adaptability and performance in a work setting. Results indicate that employee and manager perceptions of adaptability and performance were indeed different, with managers reporting lower overall perceptions. Adaptability was positively related to performance for both individuals and managers, reinforcing previous research. Implications for future research into adaptability and perceptual incongruence are discussed. Introduction The need for adaptive workers has become increasingly important due to the fact that today's organizations are characterized by changing, dynamic environments (Pulakos, Arad, Donovan, & Plamondon, 2000, llgen & Pulakos, 1999). Many organizations are implementing major changes in the way they do business in response to growing international competition, a significantly changing workforce, increasingly complex and changing work environments, the economic downturn, and other external pressures (Ployhart & Bleise, 2006, Lawler, 1986, Manz, 1992). As organizations strive to maintain their competitive edge, they are implementing new technologies, reorganizing, downsizing, outsourcing, shifting from manufacturing to knowledge-based work, and facing more competition than ever before. Ultimately, new and additional job demands are placed on individuals within these organizations. These changes are inevitable in today's work environment. Also inevitable is the fact that employees must adapt to these constantly changing environments in order to survive and prosper. Development of a body of knowledge about managing change is an important priority for both academics and for general managers (Saksvik, Tvedt, Nytro, Andersen, Andersen, Buvik & Torvatn, 2007, Beer, 1987). In an article stressing required attributes graduates need to enter the workforce, adapting to the changing work environment was at the top of the list (Gow & McDonald, 2000). The question at the heart of much of the research on individual responses to change in organizations is why there is so much variance in an individual's response to change. Why do some individuals thrive on change and adapt to function at a higher level after an organization change? Why are there individuals at the other extreme of the spectrum that fail to adapt at all and in fact, function at a much lower level (or exit an organization) after a change occurs? Additionally, why does there appear to be a difference between an individual's perception of adaptability and the manager's perception of an individual's ability to adapt? Many empirical studies have been conducted into responses to changes in organizations with regard to coping, being open to change, and handling of stress associated with change (e.g. Kirton, 1989; Wanberg & Banas, 2000; Chan & Schmidt, 2000; Ashford, 1988; Moyle & Parkes, 1999, Kohler, Munz & Grawitch, 2006, Bordia, Jones, Gallois, Callan, & Difonzo, 2006). And although there have been numerous studies that review various aspects of change and the individual's response within the organization, there are still conceptual and empirical gaps in the research on individual adaptation at work (Chan, 2000, Ployhart & Bleise, 2006). This study seeks to fill these gaps. Gaining insight into adaptability perceptions with regard to organizational change is theoretically important to the field of organization studies for many reasons. This research combines literatures from both organization studies and psychology to gain better insight into the concepts of adaptability and thriving. The marriage of the theoretical literature about response to trauma (Janoff-Bulman, 1992, Scheier & Carver, 1992, and O'Leary & Ickovics, 1995) provides the field of organization studies a different framework from which to analyze how individuals adapt to organization change. …