Prepare your business for the next crisis

History will record 2020 as a year of disruption, turbulence and omnishambles. We have all experienced seismic shifts in all facets of our lives. And we are reminded that uncertainty is the only certainty.

We, Human Resource and Talent professionals, have espoused this for years, and now we are backed up by a jolt of nature, reminding us just who is in charge.
 

The problem with all this uncertainty is that profitable business requires planning and proactivity. But, we forecast our strategic and operational plans on models of historical data, trends and observable environmental changes. Enabling us to make predictions about, mitigate risk, and adapt to known threats and hazards.

What if another 2020 is just around the corner, and the future again holds something unforeseen?  Where does proactivity fit when change is novel and rapid? It doesn't! What is required is rapid, reactive responses.

Building an adaptable workforce

Rather than trying to model every possible scenario and have a plan for it, profitable organisations will be focusing on building adaptable, agile and resilient workforces that can quickly react to known and new changes.
 

What will underpin this capability is a thorough practical knowledge of the human elements of change, wellbeing and psychological safety. Leaders and employees with the know-how, and genuine desire to help their teams remain physically and psychologically healthy and centred during the dis-continuous disruption.
 

It's time to spend more to nurture agility and adaptability whilst reskilling, upskilling and preparing your people for an undoubtedly uncertain future.

My advice is to keep your leaders close, and your employees closer!
 

An employee who has a sense of control at work, who is motivated to learn and feels supported by their manager and organisation, professionally and personally, is far more likely to stay and be ready to help when problems arise.

Your employees can be best supported when their leaders and managers themselves operate in a respectful, psychologically safe environment that promotes wellbeing. Educate your managers about the human experience of change and intelligent and practical ways to care for their wellbeing and that of others, and you will be well on the way to building a resilient, adaptable and effective workforce.
 

As Rhys Hughes nicely sums it up...

Ultimately, a business can only endure what its people can endure.