The Effects of Organizational Climate on Adherence to Guidelines for COVID-19 Prevention and Organizational Identification: A Three-Wave Study

During the current pandemic, it is essential that people follow the COVID-19 guidelines (e.g., physical distancing). Organizations substantially affect their employees’ behavior in a wide range of areas, but can they also affect how strictly employees adhere to COVID-19 guidelines? To answer this question, the present study examined the impact of an organizational climate for preventing infectious diseases (OCID) on employees’ adherence to COVID-19 guidelines both at work and in their private life. Using a three-wave longitudinal online survey with N = 304 UK based workers, our results show that OCID during the lockdown in April 2020 (T2) was positively linked to adherence to COVID-19 guidelines at work one month later (T3). We also found a relationship between OCID (T2) and adherence in one’s private life (T3) that was fully mediated through adherence at work (T3). Furthermore, we found that a pre-pandemic health climate (T1) was positively linked to our novel measure of organizational climate (T2). Finally, our study revealed that OCID (T2) and a pre-pandemic health climate (T1) contribute to stronger organizational and team identification (T3). These results highlight the key role organizations play in mitigating the current pandemic.