“Resiliency is the ability to spring back from and successfully adapt to adversity.” – Nan Henderson
Covid19 has created an unprecedented impact on the business world and the leadership team needs to imbibe some important lessons as a fallout of this crisis. The C level executives need time to fit themselves out and keep pace of this tectonic shift for maintaining their competitive edge in the digital landscape. Let’s look at some of the ways that can help build organisational resilience during Covid.
It is natural to get impacted by a crisis with a flurry of negative emotions like fear, grief, anxiety and mental sufferings. Organisations need to be wary of this and learn to engage with their staff that would help them overcome mental and psychological afflictions. Staying connected with the employees through video calls and developing an empathetic understanding of their pain points would help in laying off their anxieties for physical and mental well-being. Extending a helping hand to the team members through collaborative leadership would provide the much needed fillip for positive reinforcement of value system and beliefs.
Leaders need to prioritise the physical, psychological and emotional wellness of their employees and be attentive to the needs of their team members in all the interactions. Creating health and safety awareness programmes through webinars, podcasts and video conferencing would help in clearing any misconceptions and keep a tab on the mental and emotional health of team members. Conducting vaccination drives and getting all the employees to participate actively in these initiatives would help in reducing the risk of fatality through immunisation. Welfare measures like medical reimbursement, enhancing the insurance coverage limits and extending the benefit to the employees and their family members would go a long way in providing the financial support needed during uncertainty.
Build a culture of trust and transparency by building positive relationships with the employees. Structure meetings and ensure all the team members are given a platform to share their thoughts. There would be some team members who may not be willing to share their thoughts during the first instance. Reiterate faith and belief by having iterative discussions with team members. Respect differences within the team and be willing to give people their space to share their thoughts and feelings. Set expectations clearly about their goals and share developmental feedback that would drive inclusivity and team alignment. Create a positive environment through mentoring and assign buddies for monitoring their performance. Recognising talent and rewarding performers would help in keeping the employee morale high.
Sharing best practices and conducting training programmes would help in improving the staff awareness. This would help in understanding the challenges faced and responding appropriately during crisis situations. Avoid being judgemental and weed out actions like blame game that would impact relationships and disrupt team bonding. Be prepared to amend organisational routines, schedules of work and the processes based on inputs from staff members. This would be helping in giving better flexible working options to people based on their requirements. Reschedule tasks and adjust work practices to suit the needs of employees and client expectations. Modelling vulnerability would help in assessing the preparedness and organisational ability to rise to the challenges posed by unforeseen threats and measure its ability to stay resilient.
Conclusion
We at Newlineinfo Corp have responded positively to Covid Pandemic by leveraging on strategic resilience measures and we continue to meet our client expectations with the help of our skilled workforce.
