A practical measure of workplace resilience: developing the resilience at work scale

Area of Science:

• Occupational Psychology
• Organizational Behavior
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Workplace resilience is crucial for individual performance and managing emotional distress.
• Existing measures may not adequately capture the multifaceted nature of resilience in occupational settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an effective measure of workplace resilience.
• To assess its utility in relation to work-related performance and emotional distress.

Main Methods:

• Two cross-sectional studies were conducted.
• Study 1: Exploratory factor analysis (N=397) of 45 items.
• Study 2: Confirmatory factor analysis (N=194) of the derived scale, examining relationships with outcome variables.

Main Results:

• A 20-item scale measuring seven aspects of workplace resilience was developed, explaining 67% of variance.
• These aspects were identified as teachable and capable of conscious development.
• A credible model demonstrated relationships between resilience and work engagement, sleep, stress recovery, and physical health.

Conclusions:

• The new 20-item scale is a promising, reliable instrument for assessing workplace resilience.
• It has significant potential for application in employee support and development programs.
• The findings support the development of targeted interventions to enhance workplace resilience.