Exploring employee morale and productivity following organisational restructuring in a selected petrochemical company in South Africa

Abstract

The petrochemical industry has recently been faced with macro-economic challenges such as volatile oil prices, high cost-pressure and technological advancements forcing them to implement strategic business transformation measures to ensure survival. Despite change management being inevitable and this process having been studied extensively, the failure rate remains high where unintended consequences include reduced employee morale and consequently poor business results. The need was therefore realised from this study to explore any impact that the organisational restructuring may have on the employee morale and productivity. By mitigating any adverse effect that the restructuring may have on employee morale and productivity, the desired benefits of the change process can be maximised, which include cost reduction, increase in productivity as well as profitability. This study used qualitative method of choice where semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the perceived employee morale and productivity following an organisational restructuring process from a selected petrochemical company in South Africa. The study furthermore employed an interpretivism paradigm which implies that participants interviewed in this study would interpret and react towards organisational restructuring subjectively based on their individual experiences. The study concludes that while there may be a negative impact on employee morale and productivity following a restructuring process, it is imperative that the process is conducted fairly with transparency, open communication, human factor and clear goal setting as this will help increase the likelihood of success as well as improve employee morale and productivity. To ensure that benefits from the restructuring process can be maximised and the risks are mitigated, it is recommended that organisations ensure constant communication and the achievement of strategic alignment, that appropriate vacancy placements are implemented, and employee wellness programs and support systems are made available on a continuous basis. It is envisaged that through implementing these recommendations, organisations can contribute favourably towards SDG 8: Decent work and Economic growth.