Inculcate the habit of resilience

March 21, 2023

During hard times in the backdrop of a VUCA environment, businesses hasten to revitalize their strategies, action plans, and thought processes. Inculcating the traits of resilience among the staff must not be the last item on the wish list of any company. The good news is that many companies have succeeded by empowering their teams to support navigation.   

1.  New strategy could be threatening

The need for a renewed strategy to meet the financial crisis should be backed by factors such as increased challenges owing to the shortage of raw materials, increased production and administration costs, import restrictions, and undue pressures fueled by uncertainty. The Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous (VUCA) environment is not just an alarm to the leadership but it also demands a better and sturdier plan of action to develop and sustain the most important asset of a company – ‘The Human Resource’.

2.  Clarity is part of your corporate agility

When the management and team members are clear about the new business vision structured to face upheavals in a VUCA environment, it's easier to negotiate and sail through the rough waters. This may also require revisiting your core values - being agile, risk-taking, customer focused, and being faster and steadier. VUCA may also call for short-term tactics to win in the market. Companies that are naïve to change suffer a lot in diversifying or implementing alternative short-term strategies during critical times. What results can we expect when the direction is ambiguous among the team members?

3.  Relieve the mental pressure

Corporate leaders may require some mental relief to think and perform better. Taking a step back and understanding the broader picture can help them improve the way they think about the future. The hardest path they take could end up in a beautiful destination. When they are stressed, it transpires to the staff and increases their stress level as well. Leaders must declutter their minds and provide opportunities to release the mental pressure on the staff to perform better. Without happiness there is no mental toughness and clarity of thought – it’s the equilibrium of success.

4.  Positive mental attitude

A stronger positive mental attitude among everyone is the success behind organizations that thrive during the acute VUCA phase. With the right mental attitude, Volatility could be transformed into a new vision; Uncertainty will turn into understanding; Complexity becomes clarity and Ambiguity will be agility. But will that work without optimistic thinking and a ‘can-do attitude?

5. Personal planning and preparedness

The increasing cost of living is the cliff of the new life challenges among the staff. The increased cost of life not only depreciates the quality of life but also affects the quality of outcomes that are projected from the work. Supporting better personal planning can shape their lives. Reversing a lifestyle could be harder but by infusing the minds with better ideas on personal planning, they can ensure happiness and quality of life despite difficulties.

6.  Self-motivation and team spirit

Demotivation and lack of cohesion among the members of the team can further disappoint the leadership. Agility requires stronger and more resilient mindsets. Agile teams are motivated teams with a better understanding of collective vision and shared values. They not only seek synergy but also enjoy pursuits of small victories.

7.  Inculcating resilience is continual work

Inculcating resilience among the staff is not just another training or coaching but it’s a continual process that must focus on a set of KPIs. Jack Welch once said, “An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage”. To make those transformations faster, companies need to train/ retrain staff to accomplish new results that companies like to attain.

Photo by Pedro Sanz on Unsplash


Author(s)

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Aspire Management and Development Consultants (Pvt) Ltd.

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