Designing a Model of Employees’ Organizational Fear Management in Financial Organizations

Organizational fear has a negative impact on the employee performance at work, creates a silent culture, delays decision-making, and prevents innovation and development in the organization. The aim of this research is to provide a comprehensive model of fear management in financial organizations.

To obtain the main purpose of the study, grounded theory method was used. Participants of the study were experts in public and private organizations in financial industry that are active in Tehran, from which 20 experts were selected as a statistical sample through a purposeful sampling method.

Based on the results, the central category was explained in three subcategories of communication, functional and motivational dimensions. Causal conditions were classified in the form of 2 categories of intra and extra-organizational factors, background conditions in the form of two categories of social and technological background, and intervening conditions in the form of two categories of economic conditions of society and psychological conditions triggering organizational fear. Actions-reactions were identified in the form of four categories of managing the roots of fear in employees, human resources management measures, behavioral reforms, and cultural measures. Finally, the consequences were explained in four categories of functional, behavioral, structural, and social damages.

Using this model, managers can take steps in the field of understanding the organizational fear of employees, and in order to prevent or treat it, they can also take measures to identify and define the factors that cause fear, and finally in order to deal with organizational fear, they can reform the structure and culture.