Attachments : The unrecognised link between employees and their workplace (in change management projects)

Purpose – The purpose of the study to explain employees' “perception of change” from the socio‐psychological and behavioural point of view, and the consequences of this for the employee's ability to adopt new environments. Design/methodology/approach – This study is implemented using a three phase‐longitudinal approach which was conducted over a one‐and‐a‐half‐year period in order to monitor the process of place attachment (and detachment), starting two months before the relocation and ending four months after relocation. Interpretative phenomenological analysis is used for analysis and interpretation of the qualitative data. Findings – The relationship between physical environment and social and environmental psychology has been the central issue. In workplace change, while the attachments that no longer work for people are broken, there is a need to build new connections, which can support people through this transition. Research limitations/implications – There are pragmatic and strategic resource management implications arising from the study. Further study of affective relationships that all employees have with their workplace will aid in appropriately designing and managing facilities (services and programme). Originality/value – The previous studies indicate that the existing literature lacks a unifying framework for understanding the relationship between people and places and the emotional significance of the physical environment for regulating the employees' work behaviours. Having exposed the inadequacy of workplace change management approaches in explaining and understanding the employees' resistance to change in their experience of the move process, considering place attachments in workplaces proposes a reappraisal of both employees' experience and evaluation of the move process. It provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the significance of employees' attachments to their workplace and offers guidance on managing workplace change from procurement, design to provision of workplaces.