Organisational resilience: thriving in tough times
Extracted from Healthcare People Management Association (HPMA) newsletter.
Healthcare organisations face a multitude of challenges. Rising expectation, public and media scrutiny, advances in treatment, the changing nature of disease and evolving expectations of health in the workplace make patient-centred leadership a priority.
These factors make an organisation’s ability to cope and survive in difficult times extremely challenging. During these periods, it is resilience that will define an organisation’s success or failure.
Organisational resilience is a dynamic process through which organisations react positively and adapt when faced with adversity - it is not just about survival. It is being able to manage change effectively and thrive on the transition period in order to improve performance.
From a performance psychology perspective, the ability to turn adversity into a competitive advantage is a significant theme. In this way adversity and change can become a catalyst for progress and resilience is the process individuals and organisations can use to capitalise on these opportunities. The outcome of organisational resilience is a sustainable healthy, high performing organisation.
Lane4’s research indicates that organisations must focus on four types of resilience to ensure long-term sustainable performance:
- A collectively resilient organisation has highly inter-connected networks and avoids areas of vulnerability in terms of connections and resource. This will include ‘mentally tough’ individuals who can perform at consistently high levels during personal and professional pressure. These individuals will not operate in silos, but draw on strong social networks and capital within the organisation to allow learning to take place despite difficult times.
- A strategically resilient organisation is forward-looking and innovative. Strategies will be adapted easily to meet changing demands and opportunities. This will include anticipating and adapting to environmental change, the capability to flex strategy to accommodate shifting requirements and an experiential mindset to provide future solutions that avoid strategic decay.
- An operationally resilient organisation will have flexible systems and processes to deal with the fast pace of change. This will include effective change management to mobilise people and resources, strong formal internal communications to provide direction and flexible systems and processes that allow for better adaptation than rigid bureaucratic environments.
- An organisation with strong performance resilience faces reality head-on and continues to achieve through difficult times. It will focus on reality and avoid blind optimism, outlining clear performance expectations for employees. Relationships with external suppliers will allow for flexibility and collaborative working practices. ‘Inventive tinkering’ or bricolage will be vital too so that individuals use their resources, skills and networks to provide creative solutions to unpredictable change.
Please email fran.nash@lane4.co.uk for more information on Lane4's healthcare group.
Dr. Liz Campbell | 2009-04-29