Workforce Series – Tip #4: Be Resilient and Navigate Uncertainty

It’s week four of my five-part Workforce Series for which we are relying on the expertise of career and human resources expert, Jesse Meschuk, Senior Advisor with Exequity, a full-service executive compensation consultancy.

So far, Jesse has helped us to think about 1) reorganizing vs. restructuring, 2) planning for the organization of the future, and 3) advocating a performance measurement-oriented culture. This week’s tip focuses on training your leadership and management team to be resilient and navigate uncertainty.

In today’s environment, there are constant setbacks and shifting priorities. The CEO of Walgreens recently said on Bloomberg that “roadblocks are opportunities,” and noted that the ability to find solutions and remain agile will be a key to success. An October 2022 McKinsey study, “Raising the Resilience of Your Organization,” agrees. In its research, organizations that are rated in the top quartile for resilient behaviors were 50 percent less likely to go bankrupt over the next two years than those in the bottom quartile. The key is to build adaptable leaders with self-sufficient teams that can shift in an agile manner as business circumstances change.

As with anything else, building resiliency takes time and dedicated training. Building resilient leaders includes:

• Skill-building in active listening, to understand what’s really happening on teams;
• Minimizing bureaucracy and unnecessary meetings to make sure people have the time, space and authority to get things done;
• Establishing time to think and putting systems in place to support that notion such as:
• “Meeting-free” days
• Dedicated leadership-only sessions or offsites to talk through the status of issues and problems; and
• Peer-to-peer coaching and learning.
• Ensuring leaders are clear on how decisions should be made by establishing a matrix for who handles more risky decisions (and how), and empowering less risky decisions to be made quickly at lower levels; and
• Teaching leaders about self-sufficiency and self-care, so they can de-stress, be as effective as possible, and instill that behavior in their teams.

By encouraging resiliency, your team will feel better prepared to manage the uncertainty that is the only certainty of business! Support your workforce to meet this challenge.

Next week in the fifth and final installment of our Workforce Series, Jesse will share his recommendations for leading with transparency and values to build trust and dedication. Until then, happy staffing and Happy Networking!

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