Defence

Big Picture

Resilience - it's about organisational capability

By Kevin Rowe

All organisations operate in environments of restructure, takeovers, political change, reduced FTE; projects are shut-down and new initiatives started; customers set new agendas and demand more. The catch cry is to do more with less; deliver more to a better quality; innovate or perish. Flourishing in these circumstances isn't easy for some and it's this limited ability to respond that restricts the organisation's capacity to tackle new demands.

In the past many people relied on the offer of a redundancy package to provide the relief valve, or 'get out of jail free' card when they were just no longer able to cope. The unfortunate downside to this and similar strategies was that they were based on attitudes of denial and avoidance and reinforced a dependency that relied on the organisation to provide the solution.

Times change and new thinking is required to challenge the notion that disengaging from the workplace will provide the solution or that the next round of redundancies will provide the way out. The mentality of 'burning' people in the belief they can be readily replaced also needs to be overcome. In these times of a shrinking workforce, organisations face the challenge of not only attracting and retaining staff but also of creating environments where their people are able to be fully engaged and voluntarily contribute that bit more.

So what is the alternative for those for whom constant uncertainty and ambiguity is such a challenge? In the past we have viewed those who have succeeded as having some unique and genetically prescribed skill of resilience. It was assumed you were either resilient or you weren't. For those less resilient the options available relied on giving up personal control and letting someone else solve the problem.

The good news is that resilience is a set of skills that is available to us all.

These skills can be learned but like all skills they require practice if they are to be adopted as new habits.

The foundations of a resilient mindset include:

• the creation of support networks;
• the ability to learn from mistakes and celebrate success;
• skills in communication both up and down, including active listening and empathy (note: empathy is not to be confused with sympathy);
• planning for success; and
• managing the work-life tension.

The net result of developing skills in these areas will be a resilient mindset and a sense of personal responsibility and personal control.

Of course, these skills of resilience do not just apply to those who are affected by change. They are even more relevant to the leaders of organisations; those who orchestrate change. If our leaders are unable to communicate effectively, if they don't encourage experimentation and celebrate success; if they fail to develop relationships across the organisation; lack planning skills or are unable to demonstrate balance then they too will limit the organisation's agility and its capacity to evolve.

Let's be honest, resilience sounds like a soft HR skill. In fact resilience goes to the heart of the capability of an organisation; it's reflected in the bottom line. The absence of resilience is displayed in unplanned absences, poor performance management, high staff turnover, disengaged and disenfranchised staff. Ultimately, the absence of resilience is displayed in an inability to exploit opportunities. The challenge for those for whom this skill does not come easily is to identify the absence of resilient behaviours and to act on addressing the gap. The question leaders need to ask is; how is the absence of resilience affecting their ability to deliver; what's the impact on my bottom line?

Kevin Rowe works for changedrivers and is the practice leader in Resilience and Change. changedrivers is one of six members of Defence's Results through People standing offer panel of contractors to assist with ongoing organisational and cultural change. changedrivers are listed to provide a wide range of services including change management, leadership, mentoring systems, managing for results, and process improvement and innovation.

For more details: http://intranet.defence.gov.au/cpa/manual/cgr/renewal/.

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