OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development
Open-access peer-reviewed journal
https://doi.org/10.64211/oidaijsd190203
Building Trust and Emotional Safety in Public Sector Change Initiatives
Maya Giorbelidze 1, Salome Odisharia 2*
1 Shannon School of Business, Cape Breton University, Sydney, Canada.
2 Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia.
*Corresponding authour: sodisharia@gmail.com
Volume 19, Issue 02, Pg. 33-48, 2026.
Abstract: Purpose: Public sector reforms frequently fail not due to technical design flaws, but because they neglect the emotional experiences of civil servants during change. This article examines emotion-centred change management within Georgia’s public administration reform and proposes an integrated framework that synthesises behavioral and strategic perspectives to enhance reform implementation in transitional governance systems.
Design/methodology/approach: This article utilises secondary analysis of a mixed-methods doctoral study conducted in 2022, focusing on the human factor in Georgia’s public administration reform. The original research employed a sequential explanatory design, combining a structured survey of 581 civil servants from central and local government with 26 semi-structured interviews involving senior officials, reform managers, international partners, and civil society experts. The survey was based on the ADKAR model and expanded to include measures of emotional barriers, motivational drivers, and organisational support. For the purposes of this article, the dataset is reinterpreted through an emotion-centred lens and mapped onto the Kübler-Ross Change Curve, ADKAR, and Kotter’s Eight-Step Model.
Findings: Emotional readiness functions as a phase-gating condition for reform. Uncertainty-related anxiety and perceived loss of autonomy are the most significant negative predictors of engagement, whereas intrinsic public service motivation and recognition serve as key positive drivers. In low-trust, politically volatile contexts such as Georgia, the conventional ADKAR sequence is disrupted; trust-building and emotional reassurance frequently need to precede broad awareness campaigns. Symbolic recognition, visible leadership care, and participatory dialogue facilitate the transition of civil servants from frustration to exploration and acceptance. Structural and legal changes have advanced more rapidly than behavioural and cultural adaptation, resulting in a gap between formal EU alignment and everyday practice. Academic contribution to the field: This article integrates behavioural and strategic approaches into an emotion-centred hybrid model for public sector reform, demonstrating how emotional dynamics, organisational culture, and leadership behaviours interact with established change frameworks. It challenges linear assumptions about reform sequencing in transitional contexts.
Research limitations/implications: The analysis is limited to a single country and one doctoral dataset. Future comparative and longitudinal studies are necessary to assess the model’s transferability and examine how emotional readiness evolves across reform phases.
Practical implications: This article provides a context-sensitive roadmap for reform leaders, emphasising that emotional climate assessment, trust-building, psychological safety, and recognition mechanisms should be integrated into reform design alongside technical measures and aligned with communication, leadership behaviour, organisational culture, and HR practices.
Originality/significance/value: This is one of the first studies to operationalise emotion-centred change management for public-sector reform in a post-Soviet transitional setting. It presents an empirically grounded framework that treats emotional readiness as a strategic variable and shows how synchronising emotional, behavioural and structural dimensions can stabilise reform outcomes.
Keywords: emotion-centred change management; public sector reform; emotional readiness; change leadership; Georgia; transitional governance.
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