Strengthening Adaptive Leadership for Organizational Resilience in Hong Kong

Abstract

Purpose

This study evaluates the Jockey Club InnoPower Social Welfare Fellowship Program, designed to strengthen adaptive leadership among Hong Kong's social welfare practitioners who face high turnover and organizational instability. Method: A randomized waitlist control trial (23 training, 39 control) was conducted. Quantitative effects on sense of community, leadership, self-efficacy, adaptive capacity, and innovation were analyzed using Bayesian difference-in-differences (DID) and seemingly unrelated regression (SUR). Qualitative data from individual and focus group interviews were thematically analyzed.

Results

Bayesian DID showed significant improvements in all outcomes, with small-to-large effect sizes (≥95% probability of positive effects). SUR confirmed robust post-training effects (p < .001). Qualitative findings indicated that the program fostered transformative journeys from individual growth to sector-wide impact and acted as a catalyst for organizational resilience, innovation, and systemic change.

Conclusion

The study highlights adaptive leadership as a critical approach for strengthening organizational resilience in Hong Kong's social welfare sector.

Keywords

adaptive leadership social welfare practitioners organizational resilience innovation at work capacity building

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