Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER February 20, 2017 FEATURES 29 CHANGE MANAGEMENT Ten ways to increase resilience Leadership, culture, communication and risk-taking all play important roles By Linda Hoopes A resilient organization is one that can sustain high levels of performance while experiencing high levels of disruption. Whether disrup- tion comes from external forces or changes within (usually it's a combination), employers that can avoid significant drops in performance have a significant competitive advantage over their less resilient counterparts. Here are 10 things organizations can do to increase resilience: Hire resilient people: Hu- man energy — mental, physical and emotional — is the currency of organizational change. Some individuals are better prepared to manage their own responses to change than others. In hiring new employees, organizations should take the ability to operate effectively during change into ac- count, in addition to the knowl- edge, skills and abilities needed to perform core job activities. Ensure that leaders model resilience: Leader modelling is one of the most powerful forces in an organization. Making their own development process vis- ible to others also allows them to model the process of growth and learning. Build a resilient culture: An organization's culture can either support or discourage effective approaches to uncertainty and change. Creating systems and processes that place a high value on adaptability, reward positive responses to adversity, and collect and share stories of resilience sig- nal an organization's emphasis on building strong change capability. Communicate effectively: One of the biggest challenges people face during periods of high turbulence is the ambiguity that accompanies uncertainty. Al- though some degree of uncertain- ty always accompanies change, many organizations compound it by doing a poor job of communi- cating. It's important to tell people what is known (such as facts and plans), be clear with them about what is unknown, and help them understand when and how addi- tional information will become available to them. Align around clear goals: When multiple sources of disrup- tion are affecting an organization, people can become disoriented and unclear about where to spend their limited supply of energy. In the absence of guidance, each per- son will prioritize actions based on their own sense of urgency. When an organization can agree on a small number of critical goals, and make sure each individual is clear about how those should be reflected in his own priorities, less energy is wasted on confusion and unproductive activity. Support risk-taking: An organization discourages risk- taking when it makes it difficult for people to try out new behav- iours and tends to punish failures rather than use them as occasions for learning. is will lead people to be cautious in exploring new ideas and perspectives. During periods of significant change, this will dramatically decrease the level of adaptive behaviour people display, since operating in uncer- tainty requires experimentation. Organizations that consciously foster innovative approaches and take the time to learn from failure reap the benefits of greater adap- tive capacity. Increase diversity: One of the most important ingredients in dealing effectively with unfa- miliar situations is a wide range of perspectives that can be used to solve problems and identify options. Organizations that pro- actively seek to draw in differing viewpoints, including a variety of educational and professional backgrounds, and life experi- ences, will reap the benefits in the quality of solutions generated. Strengthen teamwork: Al- though teams do not always out- perform individual efforts, am- biguity and change create condi- tions that maximize the benefits of teams for problem-solving and decision-making. This is only true, however, if teams use effective processes to accom- plish their goals. It's important to invest time and energy in key teams to ensure all members share a common goal, recognize interdependence, effectively in- fluence one another, and display strong communication and criti- cal thinking skills. Monitor the environment: Despite an organization's best efforts to prepare itself for tur- bulence, a major shock to the system will still create a huge en- ergy drain. It's even worse when the potential for disruption could have been foreseen, allowing time to prepare, but was overlooked. Highly resilient organizations do not turn all their energy inward; they establish a sensing function whose role is to identify trends in the financial, political and social environment that could have an impact on the organization. Build slack into the system: Human energy is a finite resource. For this reason, resilient organiza- tions keep some reserves. Rather than taking on every new initia- tive that seems promising, taxing the organization to its limits as a matter of course, they ensure peo- ple have at least a small amount of time and energy that is not com- mitted. is serves as a source of creativity when things are going relatively smoothly, but can be re- cruited into action on an urgent priority when needed. Linda Hoopes is founder and presi- dent of Resilience Alliance in Decatur, Ga., which helps organizations and individuals thrive in turbulence. She can be reached at linda@resilience alliance.com. is article was origi- nally published by TidalShift, a perfor- mance-focused learning and develop- ment firm. For more information, visit www.tidalshift.ca.

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