Sail Through the Rough Seas: Trajectories of Employee Work Productivity in Times of Crisis and Boundary Conditions

Although crisis events have become increasingly frequent in recent years, few studies have examined the changes in employees’ work productivity across different stages of a crisis. To advance theory and research on crisis, we investigated the temporal patterns of employees’ work productivity before, during, and after a crisis event. Drawing on the Conservation of Resources Theory, we proposed that employees’ work productivity undergoes a substantial decline during a crisis, which will gradually slow down over time. We further examined the moderating roles of leader–member communication frequency and organizational tenure, positing these factors as critical in shaping productivity trajectories during crisis adaptation. We analyzed data from 342 team members and 69 team leaders within a high-tech off-campus tutoring company, and our findings substantiated the hypothesized productivity change patterns and boundary conditions. To complement the quantitative analysis, we conducted a qualitative study to unveil the underlying psychological mechanisms driving these changes. Our research contributes to the crisis management literature and offers insights into managing employee productivity during times of crisis.