Survival instinct: Why adaptability is key to building resilience

Conversations with business leaders all over the world, plus our 2020 Navigator research showed the pandemic has enabled companies to adopt ways of working they had previously only aspired to. These range from empowering employees to solve problems to reducing bureaucratic structures. The findings also revealed a growing focus on culture, with business leaders recognising this as fundamental to building resilience and driving change.

Leading virtual teams

The speed at which businesses had to adapt to virtual working was unprecedented and brought new challenges, many of them around technology. According to research by McKinsey, companies accelerated digitisation of their internal operations, along with their customer services and supply chains, by three to four years.¹ And Boston Consulting Group noted in a paper on remote working that: “The shift to remote work happened in a matter of days or weeks and required people to use new digital tools that they weren’t necessarily comfortable with.”²

What’s clear is that the old models no longer work, as staff demand greater flexibility, digital technology that facilitates inclusion, and more empathy than ever before.

A ‘people-first’ approach

“The pandemic has highlighted the wholeness of people, they’re not worker bees, people feel now they shouldn’t have to be,” says Sally Maitlis, Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Leadership at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. “It really falls to leaders not to reject that and just wish people were more resilient. The truth is that we employ human beings. If we can embrace that and allow people to bring more of themselves to work they are going to do better.”

Companies that fail to adapt or promote social inclusion are likely to find employees changing jobs in the next couple of years, says Chartered Psychologist Paolo Moscuzza, a Partner at Organisation Effectiveness Cambridge LLP.

Adaptability and flexibility trump command and control

Business leaders have had to adapt to a rapidly changing environment, requiring them to show sensitivity and foster loyalty amid an environment of prolonged uncertainty.

"The challenge is that it’s a more complicated world,” says Maitlis. “We all live in an illusion of things being predictable.”

She explains that “command and control hasn’t been in fashion for many years; empathy, compassion, concern for mental health has always been a part of leadership,” adding that employees’ struggles are more visible now.

Striking the right balance

The balance between in-office and remote work suits some sectors more than others, and business leaders are increasingly recognising the need to create and maintain a culture that promotes loyalty.

As discussions around hybrid working increased at the end of 2020, some issues started to emerge, Moscuzza says. “A key one was around decision-making and power: presence privilege. People who were together were making a decision about a deal with people who were remote.”

As more of the workforce has moved online, companies are prioritising soft skills such as emotional intelligence over a direct approach to management. "Do your leaders or managers need different attributes?” Moscuzza says. “This complexity, will it require more emotional intelligence? A few organizations are starting to think, 'do we need to revisit this?'”

Three essential leadership skills

To build effective, resilient teams in the post-pandemic world, leaders need to: