Employee Responses to Crisis-Related Organizational Change: Evidence from Hungarian SMEs

Empirical research on organizational behavior contributes significantly to the examination of workplace impacts and to a deeper understanding of the underlying drivers of employee behavior. The long-term sustainability of organizations operating in VUCA environments depends largely on flexible adaptation and effective change management. The aim of this research is to examine the associations between workplace factors related to organizational change and employees’ intention to quit and perceived job insecurity during a crisis. Special emphasis is placed on stress caused by organizational change as an appraisal-based construct that may statistically mediate the association between employees’ psychological and physical strain and intention to quit. The research was conducted on a Hungarian sample, using a questionnaire survey among employees working in an SME environment. Based on the TSM (Transactional Stress Model), JD-R (Job Demands–Resources), and COR (Conservation of Resources) frameworks, hypotheses were formulated regarding the associations among workplace strain, stress caused by organizational change, intention to quit, and job insecurity. The hypotheses were tested using mediation models estimated within a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework. The results indicate a significant positive association between psychological strain and intention to quit, together with a significant indirect effect through stress caused by organizational change, a pattern consistent with partial mediation. Physical strain was also significantly and positively associated with intention to quit, but its indirect effect through stress caused by organizational change was not statistically significant. Indifferent leadership was significantly and positively associated with job insecurity, while the hypothesized indirect effect through stress caused by organizational change was not statistically significant.