Psychological resilience and crisis Readiness

Connecting employee well-being and internal crisis communication

Bibliographic Data

ID21696089
AuthorsElina R Tachkova (0000-0002-4825-8268, Hong Kong Baptist University), Grace Ellen Brannon (0000-0003-1116-9015, The University of Texas at Arlington)
Year2026
Volume30
Issue3
Pages425-439
Publication date2026-07-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Communication Management (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1363-254X • E-ISSN: 1478-0852
PublisherEmerald (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1108/jcom-12-2024-0267
OpenAlexW4409834094
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited44

Purpose As important internal stakeholders, employees are particularly vulnerable and susceptible to experiencing negative affective consequences such as anxiety and stress during a crisis. We argue that helping all employees manage crisis-related uncertainty, stress and anxiety will improve overall employee well-being and, in turn, enhance organizational resilience. Moreover, this paper builds upon health communication interventions such as stress inoculation training and organizational communication theory, namely affective events theory. We propose an interdisciplinary approach to strategic internal crisis communication, which targets improving employees' mental adaptability as an essential component of achieving crisis READINESS on an individual level. Design/methodology/approach The paper synthesizes across literature in crisis communication, organizational communication and health communication to propose a theoretical framework towards improving employee and organizational outcomes when faced with a crisis. Findings Key findings an integrated theoretical and practical framework for helping employees, crisis managers and organizations be more prepared and ultimately resilient when experiencing an organizational crisis. Originality/value The paper makes a theoretical contribution to the field of crisis management by expanding our understanding of what can constitute READINESS at the individual level by drawing upon work from internal crisis communication and health communication interventions. It also offers a practical framework for crisis practitioners to incorporate existing crisis management practices together with emotional intelligence training for employees across all levels of organizations

Business · Crisis communication · Internal communications · Political science · Public relations · Disaster Management and Resilience · Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research · Psychology · Resilience and Mental Health · Marketing

Tools

Open DOI