Is VUCA Getting In The Way Of Organisational Resilience?

Organisational resilience includes disaster recovery systems, dealing with disruption and catastrophes, yet also focuses on people issues on a day-to-day basis. However, this article is about organisational-wide resilience, rather than individual leadership resilience.

The components of organisational resilience

The main components required to develop organisational resilience.

• a set of strong, transparent core values that have real meaning to everyone inside and outside the organisation
• aligning the development of personal resilience with the wider organisational objectives
• the leadership teams in managing resilience personally and managing the resilience of others
• giving attention to the sources of pressure across the organisation
• considering the combined impact of the leadership team
• building well-being and resilience assessments into recruitment.

Strong organisational values drive meaning for everyone because they offer ways to interpret and shape events.

The core values of resilient organisations need little change over the years and are used to support all involved in times of trouble.

Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity And Ambiguity

VUCA is an acronym that describes the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity of general conditions and situations. It originates from military vocabulary and gained common usage in the 1990s. VUCA serves as a practical code for awareness and readiness in various contexts. Organisational resilience in the face of VUCA depends on the evolving technical, social, political, market, and economic realities within the working environment.

Dealing With VUCA

Individuals and organisations can assess and measure their capacity to deal with VUCA through several engagement themes. Knowledge management helps make sense of situations, while considerations around planning and readiness are crucial. Effective process management and resource systems, along with functional responsiveness and impact models, contribute to handling VUCA. Recovery systems and forward practices are essential, and addressing systemic and behavioural failures is vital.

Beyond the acronym lies a body of knowledge focused on learning models for VUCA, which include preparedness, anticipation, evolution, and intervention. These models provide a framework for individuals and organisations to enhance their capacity to navigate VUCA.

Building Resilient Organisations

Building resilient organisations involves several steps. Designing effective corporate governance is crucial, as is assessing vulnerabilities and planning for a range of scenarios and outcomes. Developing an up-to-date business continuity plan is essential. Creating a team culture by mapping minds and hearts and responding proactively forms the foundation of organisational resilience.

A resilient culture is fostered by maintaining purpose, core values, commitment, and a future focus. Ensuring morale and performance remain high is also key. Management resources should be allocated to developing foresight to anticipate major events and changes. Additionally, a robust planning function that embraces the projection of strategy is necessary. Developing resilient teams involves mapping both hearts and minds, ensuring a cohesive and proactive organisational response to challenges.

Adapted from “The Authority Guide to Emotional Resilience; Strategies to Manage Stress and Weather Storms in the Workplace”– published May 2016