What Now? Change and Attachment in the Federal Government

Managers can more effectively guide their agency through change when they understand employees' feelings of attachment to aspects of the agency.

Federal government managers and employees live in a world of change. Large-scale reforms, leadership turnover, scathing GAO reports, and intense media scrutiny force federal agencies to evolve. Public managers often face resistance to change. Resistance is a logical response to change, because changes affect attachments—for example, a direct