Gain cycles in healthcare workers: the role of job resources and hardy personality

Purpose: The association between resources and work engagement has been well-established among different occupational groups. The purpose of this paper is to go one step further through the investigation of the relationship between personal (i.e. hardy personality) and job-related (i.e. opportunity for learning and development) resources and work engagement in the long run. Design/methodology/approach: A two-wave longitudinal study was conducted on a sample of healthcare professionals working in a spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation hospital located in northern Italy. Findings: The results of cross-lagged structural equation modeling indicated the occurrence of reciprocal causal relationships between the study variables. In particular, personal and job-related resources were related to an increase in work engagement over the course of the study. The level of engagement displayed by participants, in turn, was positively related to their personal and job-related resources over time, thus revealing the occurrence of positive cycles in the workplace. Originality/value: On the whole, these findings provide a deeper understanding of the role played by hardy personality as a personal resource able to promote employees’ motivation and, at the same time, they advance the scientific knowledge concerning the construct of positive cycle.