The impact of organizational harmony and psychological empowerment on employee readiness for change: An analytical study of the opinions of a sample of employees in the Research and Development Department - Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

Abstract

 The study aims to test and examine the influence of both organizational harmony and psychological empowerment on supporting employee readiness for change, given the changes and challenges that organizations face and the increasing need to adopt effective strategies for rapid response. The main hypothesis suggests that alignment between employees’ values and orientations, along with their sense of psychological empowerment, prepares employees to adapt and engage in change with flexibility, both psychologically and behaviorally. The study used a descriptive-analytical approach by selecting a random sample of 110 employees from the Research and Development Department out of a total of 153, through an electronic questionnaire, and applied various statistical methods using the SPSS v.27 program. The results indicated a significant relationship between organizational harmony and psychological empowerment with employees’ readiness for change. It also found that psychological empowerment enhances this relationship. Furthermore, the variables such as organizational harmony, psychological empowerment, and employee readiness for change all scored at a moderate level based on the responses of the participants. This is due to several reasons related to employees, including unfriendly workplace relationships, unfair reward systems, and insufficient support for employees. The study recommends that the organization adopt policies to improve the work environment and support employees’ psychological well-being, thereby increasing adaptability and flexibility toward change