Designing a Conceptual Model of Employees' Energy in the Workplace: A Qualitative Approach

Recently, a new approach has emerged in management science that is related to positive psychology and is called positive organizational knowledge. Researchers in this field are interested in what enables people to be more flexible in times of crisis. One of these issues is employee energy, which is defined as the physical or mental response people have, voluntarily or involuntarily, to an event. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to develop a model of employee energy in the workplace.

The qualitative approach of thematic analysis (TA) based on the Braun and Clarke method was used to identify the antecedents, consequences, dimensions, and components of the model under study. The statistical population of the study included all articles and books available in the field, selected according to the principle of purposeful sampling method. The library study method, including the review of books and articles, was used to collect information on theoretical foundations and research literature on the research topic. The review method was used by a researcher colleague to check validity, and the P-Scott coefficient was used to measure reliability.

The general results of this research were extracted as 64 basic themes, 11 organizing themes, and 3 overarching themes The results of the research showed that the themes (psychological characteristics, job characteristics, leadership style, effective communication, and lifestyle) determined as drivers of employees' energy, (physical energy, emotional energy, cognitive energy, and spiritual energy) were determined as dimensions and components of employees' energy, and (primary and secondary outcomes) were determined as consequences of employees' energy.

Focusing on the concept of energy at different levels in organizations provides managers with valuable information about the energy status of employees. As a result, when there is a high level of employee energy in an organization, the employees will motivate other members by continuously trying to achieve the goals, and this issue has positive consequences for the individual and organization.