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How
Employees and Organizations Manage Uncertainty:
Norms, Implications, and Future Research
M. Lee Williams
Phillip G. Clampitt
Abstract
Navigating the
borderlands between certainty and uncertainty presents an
enduring challenge to organizations and employees alike. The
Uncertainty Management Matrix (UMM) juxtaposes the uncertainty
management strategies of employees and organizations. The
Working Climate Survey operationalizes the UMM concepts. This
research project focused on analyzing the data gathered from
over 1000 employees in a wide range of organizations who have
completed the survey. The analyses revealed that organizations
that embrace uncertainty tend to foster more employee commitment,
greater job satisfaction, and less cynicism than those that
avoid or suppress uncertainty. Employees in uncertainty-embracing
organizations are better able to cope with change than their
counterparts in uncertainty-suppressing organizations. This
pattern emerged regardless of how employees rated their own
uncertainty management skills. The analyses also indicated
that communication practices and protocols play an important
role in cultivating uncertainty-embracing organizational climates.
The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications
of these and other findings.
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