Appreciating the Narrative Basis of Workplace Hope Experience

Abstract

In The Psychology of Hope, Snyder (1994) asked, “What is this thing called hope?” Unfortunately, despite its pervasive expression a simple response remains obscure. Only recently have scholars appreciated hope’s potential workplace experience influence. This exploratory narrative inquiry highlights the lived hope experience in a workplace. Seven human resources managers in a retail organization narrated about a workplace experience they found hopeful, and which were particularly influential in their decisions to stay with the organization in the future. Four exemplar narratives are analyzed using hope theory (Snyder et al., 1991). A narrative inquiry approach offers a unique perspective toward making workplace hope visible to scholars and practitioners. The findings indicate workplace hope can be made visible through narrative. In making hope visible, leaders and human resources managers have a potent lever for encouraging workplace vitality and effectiveness.

Keywords: Workplace Hope, Narrative, Workplace Vitality.

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