Resilience and agility in the new normal

Covid is not over, and it has not gone away. What we have learned in the last 15 months is that resilience and agility are key to business survival in times of ongoing uncertainty. And what we have seen some remarkable examples of businesses that have been able to adapt and thrive in adverse situations.

 

Resilience still required

Recently I interviewed Christopher Shen about the impact of resilience in organisations when dealing with a complex and changing environment. Christopher said that “People can draw on resilience to cope with change. When we face both predictable and unpredictable change it is our capacity to regain composure and instil positivity when facing challenges that is otherwise known as resilience”. As Christopher says in his recently released book Wrestling with Resilience:

“Resilience and mental toughness are essential to developing the ability to effectively perform in a sustainable and flexible manner in challenging circumstances. This is particularly relevant now, as the current Covid-19 pandemic is understandably experienced by many with alarm and worry”.

 

Teams need agile leaders

In our last newsletter, we also talked about the importance of agility in organisations, especially from a leadership perspective. Leaders need to be more agile to enable their teams to navigate their roles, particularly during disruptive change, as we are experiencing now.

According to McKinsey’s, “to build and lead an agile organization, it’s crucial that senior leaders develop new mind-sets and capabilities to transform themselves, their teams, and the organization”. 

In our Work of Leaders Program, we refer to 3 core competencies for an agile leader being Vision, Alignment, and Execution. It provides a unified model of leadership that helps leaders understand their own leadership styles and how their tendencies influence their effectiveness in specific leadership situations. 

With AgileEQ we take it one step further and examine the alternative mindsets that leaders can draw on, particularly during change and uncertainty. There are eight different mindsets available to us and we show leaders how to increase their agility by stretching their mindset competencies particularly in areas that may not normally come naturally to them. We covered this further in our eBook “8 Mindsets of an Agile Leaders”.

Together resilience and agility are at the core of a high-performing culture in the new world of work. These are competencies that can be learned, developed, and embedded in your organisation through effective training and leadership.

But what else is required of an organisation to survive and thrive in the new environment?

 

Accelerating through the curve

In a recent study by HR Coach Australasia entitled “Surviving and Growing in an Uncertain Environment” they found that:

“In order to keep their foot on the pedal, there are three factors a business must consider: Culture, Capability and Complexity.” 

“If a business is to survive, and ideally thrive in this environment, they must lean into the acceleration rather than just hold on for a reprieve.”

Furthermore, the report went on to address the six HR challenges that organisations must address when growing through an uncertain environment.

 

HR Challenges in an Uncertain Environment

• Fatigue and anxiety levels of business owners, managers, and employees. 
• Businesses need to review their structure around their capability 
• Recruiting high performing employees is going to be challenging 
• Existing employees will be seeking ongoing flexibility as the norm going forward 
• Leaders and managers will need to continue to demonstrate high levels of resilience. 
• The culture of the business may need to be addressed 

Take a moment to review these challenges. Which ones are relevant to you right now? Rate your organisation for each one. Is it: Under control? Not sure? Currently a challenge?

 

At Howardco we help our clients build high-performing, sustainable organisations that attract and retain the best people. Our programs cover Recruitment and Onboarding, HR Management and Development, Leadership Coaching, and Strategy. We are accredited facilitators for Everything DiSC and we are licenced members of HR Coach Australasia.

If any of the above challenges resonate with you or you would like to know more, please contact us to discuss how we can help.

To download a copy of the white paper “Surviving and Growing in an Uncertain Environment” click here