Withstanding pressure, being curious instead of despondent, facing change with joy and courage instead of fear. In the maelstrom of change, resilience is the all-weather jacket against the daily office storms. Can you learn it? Yes, you can. You should, because resilience is the key to personal satisfaction and also to a fulfilling job, even if it changes and demands a lot from us.
Resilience is originally a word from materials science. It describes the ability of a material to return to its original shape after being deformed by pressure or tension. This definition illustrates the ability of a system to compensate for or endure external and internal irritations without losing its original shape or breaking down1.
While personal resilience is already being addressed in many companies through human resources or occupational health management, the concept of organizational resilience is now becoming increasingly important. It describes the ability of an organization to react flexibly to changes (in the market) without losing its inner stability and identity. Agility is an important keyword here, as agile companies are able to recognize the need for change in good time and implement rapid changes of direction together.
Organizational resilience therefore requires a structure in which employees can contribute to resilience as the core of every organization. The question of purpose, agile working, attitude, culture building – all the trends and topics of recent months and years have contributed to this topic, preparing the ground for resilience and stability at the same time.
Internal communication (IC) has a very important strategic role to play in this area:
- It provides information about changes – as a strategic partner to management, the IC is responsible for communicating changes. It provides guidance: by preparing and making available relevant topics and processes, anticipating and answering questions, it can support the various management levels in their communication in this function.
- It organizes the internal dialogue – which must be horizontal instead of hierarchical and vertical. This is the only way that collective knowledge can be shared and used when short-term changes are required. This enables the IC to identify resources and ensure that they are mobilized. This strengthens competitiveness, as this knowledge is like a fingerprint of the company that cannot be copied.
- It provides opportunities for participation – in which values, visions and rules of cooperation and decision-making are developed. In this way, the members of an organization take on an active, formative role. The result then rests on many shoulders and is therefore particularly robust and resilient in times of crisis.
- It creates social spaces for creativity and exchange – both analog and digital. The IC thus also becomes the company’s sounding board, picking up vibrations and providing new impetus.
- It ensures the right mindset by communicating values and meaning, constantly opening up the discourse on this and thus keeping it alive. It gives employees the opportunity to contribute and reflect their values. The more I can remain true to my value system within the company, the more resilient I become.
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Resilience compass of the IW Cologne
Copyright lead image: Unsplash/Michael Walter
1: see Bertelsmann Foundation, Promoting resources in times of constant change. Resilience for employees, managers and companies.