Organisational Change Strategies and Employee Engagement in Government Agencies: Implications for Public Sector HRM Practices

Résumé

The research focused on understanding how organisational change strategies affect employee engagement at Nigerian public sector institutions because civil servants face ongoing disengagement problems. At least 65% of public sector Nigerian workers showed dissatisfaction in their jobs because of inefficient bureaucracy and political intervention along with resistance against change. Multiple organisational reform ventures did not solve the employee commitment and motivation issues which created work plan setbacks together with major staff changes. This research investigated how particular change strategies function to boost public institution employee engagement. The study applied Kotter’s Change Model along with Lewin’s Change Theory to understand the generated concerns. The research design selected for this study applied an explanatory approach because the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) together with the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) fit the criterion of active reform implementation. Research data was collected from 376 staff members and managers through hard and soft questionnaire copies followed by PLS-SEM analysis of the data. The findings of this study underscore the central role of organisational change strategies and public sector HRM practices in shaping employee engagement within Nigerian government agencies. Specifically, change strategies were found to significantly enhance engagement levels among staff (β = 0.227, p = 0.000), while public sector HRM practices such as strategic recruitment, performance appraisal, and continuous development had an even stronger direct effect (β = 0.455, p = 0.000). Most notably, the study confirmed that HRM practices moderate the relationship between change strategies and engagement (β = 0.109, p = 0.000), indicating that organisational reforms are most effective when HRM systems are robust and strategically aligned. These findings suggest that policymakers and agency heads in institutions like FIRS, NNPC, the Ministry of Finance, and CAC must prioritise HRM reforms to complement change initiatives. The study recommends the institutionalisation of participatory HRM models, investment in staff training, and the establishment of feedback-driven performance systems.