Enterprise social media and employee resilience: integration of the lens of communication visibility and social network ties

The emergence of enterprise social media (ESM) has brought greater possibilities for enterprises to enhance employee resilience. Drawing from the lens of communication visibility and social network ties, the current study constructs an integrated model to investigate the influence of ESM communication visibility on employee resilience and the moderating role of performance pressure. Based on a structural equation modeling analysis using Mplus 8.3 of multi-wave survey data gathered from 305 employees from a large Chinese hotel group, we show that: (1) both information transparency and network translucence significantly improve employee resilience by promoting instrumental ties and expressive ties; and (2) performance pressure moderated the influence of the social network ties on employee resilience. Robustness checks were done by re-selecting the control variables in our research model. Theoretically, our research clarifies the mechanisms by which ESM communication visibility can result in employee resilience and provides a deeper understanding of the value of social network ties in employee resilience under performance pressure. Practically, our research provides valuable and actionable guidance for managers on using ESM to enhance employee resilience. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.