Preventing employee burnout during episodic organizational changes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect that training and development have on employee burnout during episodic organizational changes. Moreover, it investigates the mediating role of overall job satisfaction (OJS) in conjunction with the moderating role of personal computer (PC) literacy. Design/methodology/approach – The study took place in Greece, in four branches of a public organization which adopted a new information technology (IT) system. Statistical analyses include exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis for instrument testing and multiple regressions for mediated moderation. Findings – The findings provide partial support to the hypotheses. It appears that employee training and development are significant predictors of burnout, indeed. However, OJS mediates the effect of one dimension of each, namely training effectiveness and support. Concerning PC literacy, a full-mediated moderation was revealed in the case of training effectiveness and a partial-mediated moderation in the case of support. Research limitations/implications – As with most studies examining change initiatives, the main limitations of this study are the cross-sectional design, the possible self-selection bias, and the limited sample size. Practical implications – The findings are important for preventing burnout during IT-related episodic changes, facilitating the successful implementation of change. Originality/value – To the best of knowledge, this study is the first to examine burnout in a changing public setting. Additionally, no previous direct evidence exists regarding the relationship between training and development and burnout while the evidence on the impact of organizational resources on burnout is scarce. © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited