Resilience, defined as the persistent pursuit of objectives despite facing adversity, assumes a pivotal role within organisations. Its significance arises from the inevitable challenges encountered by individuals in their personal and professional journeys. Navigating the complexities of life and careers requires the ability to endure setbacks, making resilience crucial for organisational success and individual growth. However, the current efforts by organisations to enhance worker resilience often serve as a mere pretence.
Most training initiatives aimed at fortifying worker resilience demonstrate relatively modest and short-lived impacts. Moreover, concerns have been legitimately raised about the potential exploitation, stigmatization, and overemphasis of resilience as a phenomenon. The prevailing discourse tends to categorise individuals as either possessing inherent resilience or lacking it. This binary perspective places sole responsibility on workers, neglecting the vital role organisations should play in providing essential support.
One of the initial challenges in building a resilient organisation is the lack of clarity and alignment on what resilience means, why it’s important, and how to measure it. Without a clear and shared vision, mission, and values, your organisation may struggle to communicate, collaborate, and coordinate effectively. Additionally, without clear and relevant resilience indicators, tracking progress, identifying gaps, and adjusting strategies may be challenging. Defining and communicating resilience goals, objectives, and metrics and aligning them with your organisational culture, strategy, and operations can be a good measure to take.
The promotion of resilience frequently is placed solely on individuals making the organisations prone to avoid their own responsibility considering the changes that are necessary on their internal structures at various levels. This approach often makes organisations less proactive in addressing the crucial improvements needed within their own systems. Rigid structures, processes, or habits that are hard to change lead to poorly flexible and adaptable outcomes which result on organisations with problems to react quickly to challenges, and even being successful in overcoming them. Resisting to change can be one of the primary challenges in constructing a resilient organisation and can emerge from various sources like fear, inertia, complacency, or vested interests. Change is inevitable and crucial for resilience, but resistance can hinder progress. Effectively managing change involves addressing concerns and needs, providing support and feedback, and celebrating successes. Additionally, promoting a culture of learning and innovation, where experimentation and feedback are valued, is essential for overcoming this challenge.
The absence of organisational support burdens workers with accountability, leading to psychological exhaustion and an increased risk of burnout. Workers may unfairly shoulder blame for systemic issues, such as excessive workloads, unrealistic expectations, or perceived inadequacies in resilience. The concepts of resilience, self-efficacy, and autonomy intertwine, fostering an environment where workers may be deprived of necessary support under the assumption that they should always fend for themselves.
Fortunately, there are strategies to transform workplaces into environments conducive to resilience. Companies that cultivate organisational resilience, not solely in response to crises but by seizing opportunities, can gain a significant and enduring advantage over competitors.
Some of the key strategies to enable systemic resilience are:
- Agile Organisation: Embrace agility through faster, data-informed decision-making. Prioritize “good enough” outcomes to facilitate testing, learning, and adjustment in response to complex business challenges.
- Self-Sufficient Teams: Foster self-sufficiency in teams by holding them accountable and granting ownership of outcomes. Empower teams to execute strategic plans, stay close to customers, and utilize feedback loops for continuous course correction and innovation.
- Adaptable Leadership: Identify and promote leaders who are adaptable, going beyond reactive responses to crises. Coach team members through changes, catalyse new behaviours, and develop capabilities that contribute to both short-term responsiveness and long-term resilience.
- Investment in Talent and Culture: Prioritize investment in talent and culture for both current and future success. Companies focusing on resilient operations, teams, and leaders may enjoy a two-way talent advantage, attracting top talent that enhances the likelihood of success and perpetuates a cycle of resilience.
Resilience is vital for individuals and organisations, but the current emphasis on individual responsibility often falls short. To truly build resilience, organisations should prioritize agility, empower teams, cultivate adaptable leadership, and invest in talent and culture, ensuring long-term success, regeneration and a competitive advantage.
References
Hamel, G., & Välikangas, L. (2023, September). The Quest for Resilience. Hbr.org. https://hbr.org/2003/09/the-quest-for-resilience
King, D., & McSpedon, M. (2022, June 17). What Leaders Get Wrong About Resilience. Hbr.org. https://hbr.org/2022/06/what-leaders-get-wrong-about-resilience
Maor, D., Park, Michael., & Weddle, B. (2022, October 12). Raising the resilience of your organization. Mckinsey.com. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/raising-the-resilience-of-your-organization
Mecking, O. (2023, April 26). The problem with valuing resilience as a skill in the workplace. Qz.com. https://qz.com/the-problem-with-valuing-resilience-as-a-skill-in-the-w-1850378695
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