The Forgiving Organization: A Multilevel Model of Forgiveness at Work

Abstract

We introduce a multilevel model of workplace forgiveness and present forgiveness climate as an organizational-level phenomenon that explains when and why employees respond to conflict prosocially. We begin with an examination of the core cultural values that allow forgiveness climates to emerge, including restorative justice, compassion, and temperance. We then explore how the organizational environment, organizational practices, and leader attributes produce these core cultural values and facilitate forgiveness climate emergence. Drawing from a sensemaking perspective, we subsequently examine the cross-level impact of forgiveness climate on individual employees, as well as the boundary conditions of these effects. We conclude with a discussion of our model's contributions and implications for future theory building and empirical research.