12 • Continued from previous page Conclusion Resilience translates to renewal, transformation and innovation. The above discussion illustrates that Resilience is a capability that can be developed deliberately. Therefore, the configuration of strategic HRM practices listed above can play a critical role in cultivating an organisational environment to facilitate resilience building. It is not enough to implement just one of the blocks, public sector organisations need to adopt them all to truly achieve resilience in this 21st Century environment. Similarly, in order for organisational resilience to be achieved, individual capacity for resilience must be developed strategically through HRM. The following quote sums up this point: The public sector’s capacity for developing organizational resilience is achieved through strategically managing HR to create individual competencies among core employees that when aggregated at the org level make it possible for organisations to effectively absorb uncertainly, develop situation-specific responses to threats and ultimately engage in transformative activities so thaty thye can capitalize on disruptive surprises that potentitally threaten their survival. - Lengnick Hall It will be important therefore to equip public officers with skills to stay strong in difficult situations. One of the key issues and one that is likely to threaten the status quo of the public sector is that of change. Introducing a resilience focus and ethos therefore constitutes a change management effort. It has been said that resilience is tested by unexpected events. Those member states who have experienced environmental and fiscal challenges in the recent years, know first hand the debilitating psychological, cultural and socio-economic effects of such events on a nation. The Seven Building Block Model illustrates the confluence of seven distinct but interrelated Resilience Enablers: Building a Culture of Resilience, Systemic Leadership, Connecting Employee to Organisational Strategy, Aligning HR Policies and Practices, Reinforcing Business Processes, Workforce Planning and Integrated Talent Management. It describes what is necessary for public sector organisations to fulfil their purpose and values; and how people work together in fulfilling that purpose. It is hoped that the Model, cognizant of contextual relevance, can serve as guide to countries trying to ‘bounce back’ from tragedies and aspiring to achieve Resilience status. Mrs. Rosemund R. Warrington is the in-house Certified Specialist in Strategic Human Resource and Organisation Development & Effectiveness (HR/ODE) at CARICAD. Over the years, CARICAD has provided HR/ODE services both in Public and Private Sector organisations in the Caribbean region in the development of HR Strategies, HR Audits, Skills Assessments, Competency Frameworks, Workload Measurements, Recruitment and Selection Strategies, Workforce Planning, Competency-based Performance Management Systems, Job Evaluations, HRD Plans, Capacity Building, HR Policy Manuals, Job Analysis and Job Description Writing, Succession Planning, Training Systems Review and Re-Design, Organisational Capacity Assessments and such.
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