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Publications
  • April 24, 2019
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review Digital Articles

Can Online Tools Help Employees Build Resilience?

By: Allison L. Williams, Acacia C. Parks and Ashley Whillans
  • Format:Electronic
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Abstract

You have had a tough day at work. Your presentation did not go well; your boss harshly critiqued your performance; a colleague was promoted to a position you had hoped to fill; and, on top of it all, some of your coworkers planned to go out after work and you were not invited. Anyone would feel lousy at the end of this day. But what helps you learn from these experiences and get back to business tomorrow is resilience. Resilience, the ability to adapt and recover from personal and professional setbacks, is increasingly recognized as a key driver of job performance. For those who lack resilience, a bad day can seriously throw them off their game, lowering their sense of worth, attitude toward their job, and work performance. In our recent research, we looked at whether using a brief, online intervention could build resilience in employees. We found that distressed employees who used such an intervention a few times per week showed significantly greater increases in resilience than employees who did not.

Keywords

Resilience; Employees; Performance; Attitudes; Online Technology

Citation

Williams, Allison L., Acacia C. Parks, and Ashley Whillans. "Can Online Tools Help Employees Build Resilience?" Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (April 24, 2019).
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About The Author

Ashley V. Whillans

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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More from the Authors
  • Joy and Rigor in Behavioral Science By: Hanne K. Collins, Ashley V. Whillans and Leslie K. John
  • Research: A Little Recognition Can Provide a Big Morale Boost By: Shibeal O'Flaherty, Michael Sanders and Ashley V. Whillans
  • Extension Request Avoidance Increases Time Stress among Women By: Ashley V. Whillans, Jaewon Yoon, Aurora Turek and Grant E. Donnelly
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