Riding the wave to recovery: Relational energy as an HR managerial resource for employees during crisis recovery

Abstract Human resource (HR) managers play a critical role in supporting workers during organizational crisis recovery, but this support is hampered when employee energy is drained during difficult times. We develop relational theory and practical suggestions to address how employees can generate energy from interpersonal interactions in a post‐crisis context. Drawing from interviews, field observations, and archival data of interpersonal interactions in the surf and boardsport industry in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, we investigated individual energetic contributions and the process which generated relational energy, defined as psychological resourcefulness generated from interpersonal interactions that enhances work capacity. Our analysis revealed that in the aftermath of a crisis, employees generated relational energy by engaging in processes of perspective taking and interpersonal adjustment while engaging in crisis‐recovery work. This was particularly true when their personal contributions to the interactions were negative or neutral in valence and of low intensity. This is in contrast to assumptions in the literature and industry cultural norms, but was essential to fueling interdependent work efforts during crisis recovery. These findings extend and refine theory on energy at work to help inform HR practice by developing understanding of how the energy generated from other people can be an important resource to help sustain crisis recovery, and how HR managers can support these processes.