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The Development, Validation, and Practical Application of an Employee Agility and Resilience Measure to Facilitate Organizational Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2017

Thomas J. Braun ,
Bryan C. Hayes ,
Rachel L. Frautschy DeMuth  and
Olya A. Taran
Thomas J. Braun*
Affiliation:
Humana Inc.
Bryan C. Hayes
Affiliation:
Humana Inc.
Rachel L. Frautschy DeMuth
Affiliation:
Humana Inc.
Olya A. Taran
Affiliation:
Humana Inc.
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Thomas J. Braun, Humana Inc., 500 West Main Street, Louisville, KY 40202. E-mail: tbraun2@humana.com
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Abstract

Traditional change management approaches that focus on linear models and top-down control have proved less than adequate in addressing organizational change within the complexity and speed of today's unprecedented change. Researchers have suggested that by developing greater workforce agility, companies may be better positioned to manage or moderate rapid change and use this capability as a competitive advantage. Complementing current strategies with a different approach to managing change focused on individual agility and resilience may be a first step. This article focuses on the development, validation, and practical application of an employee agility and resilience measurement scale as part of a program in support of an alternative approach to managing organizational change. Results indicate that focusing on individual agility and resilience can prepare employees to handle uncertainty more successfully by adapting to change quicker and managing stress more effectively.

Keywords

agilityresiliencemeasurement scaleorganizational change
Type
Practice Forum
Information
Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Volume 10 , Issue 4 , December 2017 , pp. 703 - 723
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2017 

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Footnotes

The authors would like to thank the many Humana associates who made this work possible, including Tracy Richardson for her help in assessment development, our Well-Being team for their partnership and insights, the Enterprise Learning and Development team for deployment support, and all of our FIT for Change facilitators who bring this work to life every day for Humana.

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