Development of a Scale Measuring Organizational Readiness to Change and Psychological Safety using a Sequential Exploratory Mixed Methods Approach in a Health Professions Education Setting

Abstract

Background and Objective. There is a call for changes in health professions education to help address current and future challenges. For the effective management of change in institutions involved with health professions education, it is important to consider organizational readiness for change and psychological safety. In organizations, the presence of psychological safety facilitates learning that is integral in organizational development, especially those undergoing changes. There are tools available to measure organizational readiness to change and psychological safety but they are separate and tend to be lengthy. The study developed and validated a brief, straightforward tool that integrates psychological safety in the measurement of organizational readiness for change. It can be useful in the assessment of academic organizations undergoing change in order to facilitate implementation and promote effective change. 

Methods. The study used a sequential exploratory mixed methods design. A conceptual framework on organizational readiness to change which included psychological safety was developed from a review of literature. Relevant constructs were defined and corresponding questions were constructed and scaled. Five content experts qualitatively assessed the scale and removed items which were redundant, lacked clarity, or were irrelevant. The items were then reviewed by selected participants to ensure face validity. Finally, the questionnaire was administered to members of a unit (N=89) which was undergoing organizational change to ensure construct validity. Construct validity, internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity were determined using PLS-SEM and yielded acceptable results. 

Results. The scale developed addressed components of organizational readiness to change and psychological safety. The scale was deemed to have good content validity by five experts, good face validity as tested by a small pilot group, and acceptable construct validity, internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity.

Conclusion. The quantitative scale developed for measuring readiness to change was assessed qualitatively and quantitatively, and deemed to have relevance and validity. It can be used by academic units embarking on change initiatives to assess organizational readiness with due consideration for psychological safety. Quantitative results from the tool can be supplemented with qualitative measures such as observations, interviews or focused group discussions to better identify and address areas needing attention. The study has the potential to make a significant contribution to both the theory and practice of change management.