The relationship between organizational mindfulness, crisis management and its impact on employee motivation

Purpose This study aims to examine how an organization's mindfulness and investment in crisis management procedures influence employee motivation. Design/methodology/approach A research model was developed based on the abovementioned concepts and seven research hypotheses to explore this interrelationship. We tested these hypotheses using data collected from 383 employees from Greek organizations with the highest earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) profits for 2022. Findings Statistical analysis confirmed five of the seven research hypotheses. The results show that the relationship between the organization's mindfulness and familiarity with crisis management procedures positively impacts employee motivation. Additionally, we found that this relationship is influenced by employees' gender but not by employee generation. Originality/value We provide novel insights into how the above relationship and proactive behavior generate important organizational outcomes, such as increased employee motivation during the normal state of operation, not limited to crisis events, as was the case in previous studies. This study extends the theory of organizational mindfulness, originally developed within High Reliability Organizations (Weick and Sutcliffe, 2007), by demonstrating its applicability to ordinary, non-crisis contexts and linking it to employees' motivational outcomes. As such, we offer unique and valuable insights for researchers and practitioners.