Workforce resilience in the post-COVID-19 era: differences based on manufacturing–service orientation and firm size

Abstract

The devastating impact of COVID-19 on businesses has led to the redefinition of workforce resilience. This study hence explores workforce resilience factors that will be important in the post-COVID-19 era. It investigates whether these factors perform differently in the manufacturing vs. the service sector and in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) vs. large firms. Sixty-five firms were studied in Malaysia and analysed through Rasch modelling. The results indicate that three workforce resilience factors (positive thinking, sense of responsibility, and emotional control) are difficult to overcome in the manufacturing sector. Regarding the SMEs and large firm contexts, six workforce resilience factors (positive thinking, differentiation, degree of involvement, sense of responsibility, cognitive processes, and innovation) are complicated for SMEs. In comparison, two workforce resilience factors (worklife balance and decision-making) are difficult for large firms. Capitalising on these findings, managers in various organisations (manufacturing vs. service and SMEs vs. large firms) can adopt different strategies to leverage workforce resilience post-COVID. Moreover, government agencies can use these findings for policy-making when leading post-COVID-19 projects and initiatives.

Pandemic and VUCA World: Analyzing Indian Scenario of Integrated Marketing Communication on Digital Platform

“…They are decision-making and work-life balance. Findings will help managers to design strategies to leverage workforce resilience in post covid era (Soomro et al, 2022).…”

Multiple paths to enhancing the resilience of project-based organizations from the perspective of CSR configuration: evidence from the Chinese construction industry

“…Markman and Venzin (2014) have found that smaller banks are more resilient than larger ones. Organizational managers can take different measures to address post-COVID resilience for different firm sizes (Soomro et al. , 2022).…”

“…Markman and Venzin (2014) have found that smaller banks are more resilient than larger ones. Organizational managers can take different measures to address post-COVID resilience for different firm sizes (Soomro et al, 2022). Therefore, this study includes firm size to explore the impact of CSR on organizational resilience for firms of different sizes.…”

Strategic Managerial Shift at Retail Stores to Boost Positivity Among Employees in Post-Pandemic Scenario

“…They suggested rethinking agile retailing, identifying a new role for retailers t o w a r d s s o c i e t y, e n c o u r a g i n g d i g i t a l communication, and keeping the interests of the consumers as the core of their business. Soomro et al (2022) explored that control of emotions, a sense of responsibility, and positive thoughts are hard to combat in manufacturing. For small and medium enterprises (SMEs), dealing with innovation, a sense of responsibility, cognitive processes, involvement and differentiation, and positive thoughts can be challenging.…”

“…Arora and Pratibha (2021) investigated how workers in an IT company felt about the HRM procedures. The current literature identifies the unique challenges faced by HRM professionals (Anjum et al, 2022), how the challenges can impact the strength of workers (Soomro et al, 2022), and various intervention types to combat the obstacles (Pantano et al, 2020). Researchers explored the confidence levels of different professionals to deal with the challenges (Ricou et al, 2021) and the impact of the leadership style adopted by managers and owners towards employees to deal with the challenges (Alsharif et al, 2021).…”