Workforce agility revisited: a comprehensive framework and strategic directions based on mixed methods research

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to critically attain a comprehensive understanding and prediction of workforce agility (WA) and its organisational and individual enablers, along with moderators, required to manage the high pressure on high-growth and high-tech IT Industry. Design/methodology/approach The study has adopted a concurrent mixed method approach, comprising quantitative survey of employees, tested using partial least square structural equation modelling for causal-predictive capabilities and explored WA using qualitative interviews of senior leaders. Findings This research explains a fundamental change in how the construct of WA needs to reflect in research. The article provides a new definition, a theoretical framework and insights on contextual, strategic and tactical management of WA with the overarching dynamic capability theory. Independent variables show significant positive effects on employee agility (EA), namely, organisational enablers, individual enablers – career self-management (CSM) and intolerance for ambiguity. The study shows that CSM has a positive and the most significant effect on EA and professional client interaction has a significant negative moderation. Practical implications Meta-integration provides recommendations for industry managers who will find an advisory on agility centric organisational practices of leadership, career management, client interaction, organisation–employee strategic alignment, drawbacks and restrictions of agility, along with predictive WA models for practice. This exhaustive study of evolution in the meaning of WA and workforce management practices (WMP) is capable of impactful implications. Originality/value The study affirms the inclusion of WMP and CSM, states the difference between employee agility and WA constructs and explores the drawbacks of WA.