8 • Continued from previous page Building a Culture of Resilience When considering an organisations’s capability for resilience, prominence must be given to managing culture. It is precisely for this reason that strategic human resource management (SHRM) is central to the establishment and maintenance of an organisation’s leadership structure and cultural values. A number of cultural drivers supporting HR processes include the ability to engage stakeholders, alignment of individual needs to the long term resilience needs of the public sector, the ability to develop a capability for the management of adversity. A culture of organizational resilience is also built to a great extent on resilient leadership. Resilient organisations uphold a culture of respect and trust to take necessary risks without the fear of retribution. Indeed what is needed is a positive culture that effectively promotes values such as courage, initiative, integrity, loyalty, trust, teamwork and open communication. This positive culture will be mirrored in the organisation’s ability to lead teams to high performance; build trust-based relationships; and successfully undertake cross functional work assignments. Organisations that are truly resilient empower their staff to be proactive and responsive to create readiness for change, in whatever circumstance. In an environment of resilience, the active contribution of individuals’ and teams’ ideas and efforts is promoted. Finally, resilient organisations care about the well-being of employees as they work diligently to deliver results. The well-being of public officers must therefore not only be the concern of representative unions, but also of management at every level of the organisation. Systemic Leadership The importance of leadership in shaping a resilience culture in public sector organisations cannot be overstated. Some of the required attributes of the ‘leader’ and leadership teams include the influencing of an organisational resilience approach that contribute to the strategic direction, culture, performance, continuous improvement, relationship building and overall organisational resilience in the Public Sector. Clarity of interrelationships and respective roles of the Permanent Secretary, the CEO, the Committee of Permanent Secretaries, ‘the Board’, lower level and ad hoc management teams and how these linkages influence an organisation’s potential for resilience are critical considerations. Context matters for resilience building and as such, an enabling environment that supports agile • Continues on next page
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