When and why demands reveal their challenging potential during change

Abstract

This study contributes to a better understanding of the complexity of the demands that arise during organisational change. We investigated classic and change-specific demands in relation to emotional exhaustion and work engagement within the challenge–hindrance framework. We focused on workload and individual job impact and tested trust and autonomy as moderators. Data were collected via a cross-sectional online questionnaire. The convenience sample consisted of 388 employees experiencing organisational change at the time of responding. We conducted regression analyses to test for both direct and moderating effects. The results indicate that workload and individual job impact exhibit challenge and hindrance qualities. We also identified the significant moderating effects of trust and autonomy on individual job impact. This study integrates the challenge–hindrance framework into the job demands–resources model and offers a new perspective by applying this framework in the context of organisational change. We examined the specific roles of autonomy and trust regarding demands during change processes, and their potential in channelling challenging qualities is examined, offering new perspectives on the buffering of change demands.