How Managers Can Build Organizational Resiliency

It’s an understatement to say that the financial crisis has affected employers and employees across all jobs and industries. From dealing with layoffs to shrinking retirement savings, there is plenty of worry and uncertainty in our organizations that affects performance and productivity. It also goes without saying that resilient organizations and individuals stand the best chance of surviving – even excelling – in these tough times.

What does a resilient organization look like?
Simply stated, a resilient organization can respond and adapt to both sudden shocks and gradual change – the current financial crisis is a perfect test of resiliency. Maximizing performance over the long term, through changes foreseen and disruptions that can’t be predicted, defines a resilient organization. Resilient organizations require resilient individuals, and managers help develop the right culture to build this kind of organization.

Leading for resiliency
Research into resilience has focused most heavily on how individuals and organizations cope with negative experiences and trauma. But researchers in different fields have also looked at the factors associated with long-term success in the face of change — why some organizations survive and even benefit from change while others do not. The findings can be grouped into five interrelated strategies:
• Encouraging innovation
• Building in flexibility
• Strengthening and broadening connection networks
• Building a sense of purpose
• Managing employee stress

Encouraging innovation
A culture of innovation, with expanded decision-making boundaries and greater respect for the ideas and opinions of employees — the people closest to the work and to the customers — tends to energize and engage employees. An important side benefit of such a culture of innovation is to help employees see that they can control more than they may have imagined possible. People who believe that they have some control over the events that affect their work and their lives are much more likely to show the kinds of positive behaviors associated with resilience.

Liberating employees to generate ideas and engage in experimentation at work can help them feel and be more effective at their jobs. In 1999, David Whitwam, chairman of Whirlpool, decided to transform that company through widespread innovation. Over three years, 10,000 of the company’s 65,000 employees participated in workshops and training sessions that generated 7,000 ideas, which in turn led to 300 small-scale experiments. From those experiments came the handful of valuable innovations the company was seeking. Encouraging and empowering employees to come up with ideas and to try new approaches supports both personal and organizational resiliency.

Building in flexibility
Flexible work schedules can be used to extend coverage beyond traditional work hours while enabling employees to choose schedules that allow them to attend to personal and family priorities. Other options, such as telecommuting or other virtual work arrangements, are now being perceived as more than a work-life “benefit” and are being successfully extended to groups beyond sales staff. Studies show that flexibility boosts productivity, engagement and job satisfaction.

In 2002, a Fortune 100 company based in the Midwest introduced a “work whenever and wherever you want” policy with its headquarters employees. The company has a hard-driving work culture that has tended to attract hard-working employees. The problem was that it was also burning them out. A combination of stress-related health claims and the departure of some good employees led the company to take a hard look at its culture and work practices. The new policy recognizes work accomplished, not hours spent. Employees are expected to get their work done and meet their output goals – where and when is up to them. The result has been dramatic: a 35 percent increase in employee productivity paired with a boost in employee engagement and morale and a radical shift in how employees get their work done. In an interview for “60 Minutes,” aired in April 2006, one of the company managers said his area of the office sometimes looks like a ghost town. “Some folks literally don’t come into the office for weeks at a time. . . I have to trust that my team is going to get the work done in this environment. And the ironic thing about it is that it’s that trust factor that actually makes them work harder for you.”

Strengthening and broadening connection networks
In times of change and uncertainty, strengthening and broadening communication networks is more important than ever. Employees who have access to vital information and expertise may be anywhere in the organization, and they are often in positions much farther down in the hierarchy. Chain-of-command decision-making slows down the process of information gathering and deliberation and also pushes the decision point several removes from the people with the best information. Hierarchical information flow has two other serious drawbacks in times of rapid change: It is easily disrupted, and it is inclined to filter out difficult-to-hear realities or points-of-view. A strategy that encourages widespread innovation and experimentation broadens communication networks by multiplying the number of decision points and pushing them farther down in the organization. An organization can also switch dynamically between hierarchical decision-making and networked operations depending on the situation.

Resilient organizations operate with multiple forms of communication. Resilient individuals build two-way social support networks — friendships and professional relationships where there is give-and-take, support, encouragement and the free exchange of ideas. In a resilient workforce, employees pick up the slack for their co-workers when necessary, knowing that the favor will be returned when they need help themselves. This kind of cooperative and supportive behavior at work can be encouraged with flexible work practices, cross-training, team building and a culture that encourages innovative teamwork.

Building a sense of purpose
Research into organizational culture and employee engagement at work has shown the importance of values alignment to employee commitment and loyalty. Employees who feel that their personal values are aligned with the values of their employer — as observed in the kinds of behaviors that are encouraged and rewarded in the organization and in the shared beliefs that drive decisions — are more likely to give their best work. They are more likely to volunteer their energy and ideas for change efforts.

A shared sense of purpose helps employees stay focused in the confusion that often characterizes times of change and disruption. They have a sense of what the organization would want them to do when they encounter new situations. In the absence of clear direction they still know how to act. If that sense of purpose is shared by suppliers and customers, a whole system of flexibility and contribution can develop to help the organization through the transition. Without that goodwill and alignment in tough times, it’s easy for employees to disengage and for customers and suppliers to switch their allegiance to competitors.

Managing employee stress
Too often, organizational changes are planned with only bottom-line outcomes in mind. They factor in known costs and benefits, but ignore the hidden costs of lost productivity due to human factors. Employees in the grip of anxiety over their place in and future with the organization don’t look for opportunity in change. They look for security or they look for escape. Much has been written about the toll individual stress takes on employee health and on how stress has been linked to higher rates of absenteeism and higher heath care costs. Stress can also cause distraction, attention paralysis and “presenteeism” — where employees put in their time at work but not their hearts and minds.

Other factors compound the problem. Everyone is motivated by positive feedback at work, yet there’s often a shortage of praise during times of change and uncertainty. In times of change, the flow of positive feedback tends to dry up. Managers may be overloaded, worried, or distracted themselves and therefore, less generous with praise. With less clarity around what needs to be done, and less positive input from management, it becomes harder for employees to stay on task, meet business objectives, and stay motivated and resilient. The result can be a form of emotional market collapse. Employees feel weak, unsure and powerless. They‘re anything but the agents of change an organization needs to clear a new pathway to success.

Demonstrating appreciation to your employees can go a long way toward strengthening morale and self-esteem. Reaching out to your employee assistance program (EAP) and other workplace benefits can also be invaluable. Make sure that your employees are aware of the resources available to assist them with financial, work, and personal and family issues, and don’t forget to take advantage of the services yourself.

The goal: a resilient organization with resilient employees
During times of organizational change, you’ll succeed as a manager if you focus on employee resilience. Here are some steps to help you build individual and team resilience:
• Teach resilience. Resilience skills can be learned. For example, your EAP and wellness programs may offer on-site training seminars and health coaching programs readily accessible to your employees. These programs can help people see what they can and can’t control, so they can focus efforts constructively and innovate where there is opportunity. Resilient employees look for ways to influence change and learn not to dwell on the things they can’t change. Stress management techniques and attention to healthy eating, sleep and exercise habits are also part of a good resilience training program.
• Look at work loads. You may feel caught between productivity demands from above and employees’ stresses and complaints from below. Work load can seem like a given, a non-negotiable bar set by others. While it may be true that output targets are fixed, there’s often leeway in deciding what work is required. Find out from employees what aspects of the work load are causing their stress. Research has shown that it’s usually the lowest-value work that causes the most frustration — time spent on reports that may not be looked at or on tasks that “have always been done” but no one is quite sure why. Most people like working hard at meaningful work; work with outputs that are valued and appreciated. But work with low value feels like wasted effort and an obstacle to focusing on what’s important. You can work with your employees to identify and either minimize or eliminate low-value work.
• Hire for qualities, not just skills. Look for people who can do the work and who can also sustain themselves and others emotionally during turbulent times. Look for people who have a history of dealing effectively with change, people who can give (or whose references can give) specific examples of changes they’ve initiated, supported and weathered effectively.

As a manager, you have a huge impact on employee resilience. You play the primary role in helping employees stay focused and productive through challenging times. Call on your managerial skills and involve employees in decisions, encourage them to be part of change efforts and solicit and listen to their ideas for improvements. By encouraging innovation, building in flexibility, strengthening and broadening connection networks, building a sense of purpose and managing employee stress, you‘ll build a resilient organization poised to overcome hurdles. Remember, building organizational resilience is about managing human beings and knowing how to develop their strengths and maintain their energies – especially in these pressured, challenging times.