Resilient Employees in Resilient Organizations: Flourishing Beyond Adversity

Abstract

Britt, Shen, Sinclair, Grossman, and Klieger (2016) offer compelling arguments for the need to consider resilience trajectories and to identify the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual factors accountable for unique trajectories. We welcome the call for more focused research efforts toward uncovering the role of resilience in organizations and concur with Britt et al. that there is a need for a clearer characterization of resilience among employees, the correlates of resilience, and the way that resilience can be facilitated. Our objective here is to build on the main thrust of Britt et al.’s focal article by outlining a novel perspective on employee resilience, which we believe will constitute an important contribution to the organizational resilience literature.

Building employee resilience through wellbeing in organizations

“…The concept of employee resilience was developed in an attempt to focus the empirical inquiry of resilience away from internal indicators of coping with stress, to the context of demonstrating resilience behavior at work (Kuntz et al, ). In line with the ecological perspective on resilience, employee resilience can be enabled by the organization and is defined as “employee capability, facilitated and supported by the organization, to utilise resources to continually adapt and flourish at work, even when faced with challenging circumstances” (Kuntz et al, , p. 460).…”

“…Second, the extent to which the organization provides work‐related resources influences the enactment of resilient workplace behaviors, beyond its effect on positive coping at work. Third, resilient employee behaviors can be developed and enacted in any work environment, even in the absence of significant adversity (Kuntz et al, ). Overall, the definition of employee resilience reflects a behavioral construct, which is different from, but related to, existing constructs that describe the capacity to cope with stress and pressure.…”

“…Thus far, resilient employee behaviors have been found to be influenced by three organizational enablers: leadership (supportive supervision), learning culture, and a supportive work environment (supportive team and organization) (Kuntz et al, ; Näswall, Kuntz, Hodliffe & Malinen, ). Research suggests that support from the organization is by far the most important contributor to employee resilience (Kuntz et al, ), indicating that a supportive organization is an essential enabling factor to the enactment of resilient employee behaviors (Nilakant et al, ).…”

“…For instance, evidence suggests that organizations should provide interventions to build existing employees' individual resources prior to any change initiative in order to reduce the strains experienced during organizational change (Shin et al, ). Given the evidence suggesting that resilient behaviors can be facilitated through organizational practices (Kuntz et al, ) further research is required to understand how employee resilience may be promoted through organizational interventions.…”

“…Advancing this theme, contemporary researchers increasingly argue that organizations need to emphasize employees' ability to cope with the emotional upheaval caused by continuous change, but also make a deliberate investment in approaches that target the development of resilience in employees (Kuntz, Näswall, & Malinen, ; Luthans, Vogelgesang, & Lester, ). This view underscores that individuals and organizations share responsibility for demonstrating effective responses to change, and organizations can develop the resilience of employees through the availability of workplace resources and interventions (Bardoel, Pettit, De Cieri, & McMillan, ; Luthans, Avey, Avolio, & Peterson, ).…”