Assessing workers' true and perceived sense of urgency during strategic change: A descriptive and correlational examination

Many change programs fail because those executing the change initiatives lack adequate urgency to make change happen. Of all the causes for failed change efforts, a low sense of urgency (SOU) is the most prevalent. The problem addressed in this study is that U.S. Air Force leaders have initiated a strategic change program without assessing whether adequate urgency exists to successfully implement and sustain the program. This quantitative study was designed to assess urgency levels that exist within an Air Force Security Assistance community. Assessed were workers' perceived sense of urgency (PSOU), their true sense of urgency (TSOU), and their awareness of the vision for change (VA). Using data collected via an online survey, descriptive statistics for n = 57 revealed that 49% of workers were identified as having a PSOU, none measured to have a TSOU, and 23% were aware of the program's vision. The data also revealed a difference of 9.19 between the TSOU and PSOU means. A correlational analysis showed a positive relationship between PSOU and VA and a negative relationship between TSOU and VA. A key conclusion was white workers perceived they provide sufficient urgency to support the change initiatives, their PSOU did not equal that of true or measured urgency. This study concluded with practical recommendations for increasing PSOU, TSOU, and VA as well as recommendations for future research to further understand these variables and narrow the gap in literature regarding understanding PSOU and TSOU.