IMPACT OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE WORK SYSTEMS ON ORGANIZATIONAL RESILIENCE: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF EMPLOYEE AGILITY

Abstract

Within Pakistan’s volatile economic and institutional environment, organizational resilience has become essential for sustaining competitiveness and long-term performance. Drawing on the Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capabilities Theory, this study examined the effect of High-Performance Work Systems (HPWS) on organizational resilience, with employee agility as a mediating mechanism. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was conducted among 364 managerial and supervisory employees from manufacturing and service-sector organizations in Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The findings revealed that HPWS exerted a significant positive influence on organizational resilience (β = 0.36, p < 0.001) and employee agility (β = 0.59, p < 0.001). Employee agility was also positively associated with organizational resilience (β = 0.42, p < 0.001). Bootstrapping analysis (5,000 resamples) confirmed a significant partial mediating effect (indirect effect β = 0.25, 95% CI [0.17, 0.33]). The structural model demonstrated satisfactory fit indices (CFI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.055) and explained 49% of the variance in organizational resilience (R² = 0.49).The results underscore that strategically aligned HPWS enhance resilience in Pakistani organizations primarily by cultivating agile, adaptive, and responsive human capital, thereby strengthening firms’ capacity to withstand and respond to environmental disruptions.