The volume of change an organization can handle is determined by the resilience of its people. In today's era of AI transformation and digital disruption, this resilience is increasingly expressed as agility — the ability to adapt quickly to new technologies and market conditions.
According to the American Psychological Association, resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility. It's not just about surviving change but learning and thriving through it.
5 strategies for building organizational resilience to change
Business resilience is fundamentally built on human resilience, and each person brings their own unique capacity for adaptation. Through conversations with change management experts, we've identified five strategies for workforce resilience to help your teams not only adapt to organizational change but flourish in this new order:
Good communication produces psychological safety
1. No surprises: Share and listen
The first step to building organizational resilience through change requires understanding and managing people's expectations. And so often, communications are central. Build your communications plan around the questions people will have.
- Why is this change necessary?
- Why now?
- What is it hoping to achieve?
- What will it mean for each person individually?
Cielo's former SVP Client Services Lisa MacLaren says: "Bring people on the journey with you. Talk to them about it, make sure they understand where they play a part — and what it's going to look like once you get to where you're going. So that people clearly see the vision."
A reminder, too, that the message you send isn't always the message that's received. On a busy workday, it can easily become filtered through a range of thoughts and emotions, such as stress, partial attention, or personal issues.
CieloGood communication means that there should be no surprises.
Ultimately, communication should be a two-way exchange of thoughts, feelings and ideas that leads to mutual understanding. Good communication fosters psychological safety where team members feel comfortable asking questions, expressing concerns, and contributing to problem-solving.
In addition to telling your story and landing your messages, you must also listen and respond accordingly. Give people time to process information, ask questions and consider any implications.
Katy Theroux, EVP CHRO at Cornerstone Building Brands, says: "For me, feedback is a really important part of building a resilient culture — creating a feeling of openness to giving and receiving feedback falls out of being empowered and having autonomy. Giving people access to more information helps draw them closer into the culture."
The stress change brings is hard enough to deal with. People don't need the stress of feeling ignored, too. Removing that worry means your people can focus on preparing for — and building resilience to — the change that's coming. And, for that to occur, people need to understand why change is happening.
Resilient organizations understand “the why”
2. Context is key
The blur of change makes it hard to see the forest for the trees. Context brings clarity to the complexities of change — it means that everyone involved knows what the conversation is about. But you can't treat employees like a single homogeneous group.
With the average person mentally filtering 78 WhatsApp messages, 40 text messages and over 100 emails every day, it's easy to understand how information can get misinterpreted, misread or simply missed. Delivering clear, personal messages enables you to cut through that noise.
People consume information in different ways, in different locations and at different times. Try to reflect that with how, where and when you communicate with employees. Shape the touchpoints, formats and channels you use to help them digest your message in the way that suits them best.
Knowing why something is happening makes people more engaged in the process. It also helps them understand how what they do matters in the success of any transition.
CieloPeople need to understand not just what you’re doing, but why you’re doing it — and why it matters. They need to feel part of a living organization.
MacLaren says: "Everybody needs to know which direction you're heading in, so you're all travelling on the same journey. You all know exactly what your goal is — and every individual knows what their important contribution to that goal is going to be."
Context gives us peace of mind, a sense of direction and the ability to prioritize what's important. This is especially crucial when navigating AI implementation and digital transformation, where the “why” behind technological change can make the difference between resistance and enthusiastic adoption. Asking people to build resilience to necessary change is very different from asking them to cope with what feels like unnecessary pressure.
Thiel agrees: "I'm a huge proponent of context. People need to understand not just what you're doing, but why you're doing it — and why it matters. They need to feel part of a living organization — not just one where leadership makes decisions and they just do their job. If they don't feel connected to what their organization is trying to achieve, their ability to absorb change that comes their way is going to be significantly lower."
Business disruptions call for consistency
3. Be consistent. Be persistent. Repeat.
When everything around them is changing, people need something solid to cling to. That's why it's important to show that — in the throes of change — your vision, values and purpose remain constant. In times of upheaval, consistency is your ally. And as humans, we crave it. Our brains are tuned to take comfort from certainty. It gives us the stability we seek and builds credibility behind change.
People need to know what to expect and what the outcome of their actions will be. If your message is constantly changing, you risk confusion and the impression that there's no clear plan.
Consistency in the content and delivery of your messages builds trust. Remember, it's not a given that people will immediately grasp new information and change their behavior. Persistence and repetition can help. The adage about speechwriting is a good guide: tell them what you're going to tell them; tell them; and then tell them what you told them.
Cassady agrees: "You need a lot of repetition. Repetition means that people know what to expect. Repetition creates reputation. It absolutely drives it home."
Good leadership builds resilient culture
4. Activate your culture keepers
Your organization’s culture is determined by the way its values and attitudes combine to shape its daily practices.
Culture is also your great untapped source of collective purpose and commitment. It can galvanize people to withstand the impacts of change. Thiel says:
"If your culture is not focused on shared goals that are rooted in a clear purpose, that’s the recipe for a much more challenging change effort."
Good leadership is vital to building a resilient culture — and it doesn’t have to come from the top. Your cultural leaders aren’t necessarily those with seniority, but those with influence. Everyone has the ability to be a leader in their own right. It’s critical to identify those culture-keepers who can lead you forward. You need to tell them one-to-one what you need from them to help the organization thrive. Cassady believes in being direct:
“You need to say to them, ‘You’re a culture-keeper here. As a leader in this organization, we need your help to guide us through the change.’”
Theroux believes in building culture-keepers through empowerment.
Cornerstone Building BrandsHaving decisions made at the right place in the organization — which often isn’t the top — is critical to growing resilience.
“There’s no other way to do it — allowing people to make decisions that are relevant at the time and giving them a level of autonomy. Having decisions made at the right place in the organization — which usually isn’t the top — is critical to growing resilience. Not having to go up and down a chain of command allows people to move faster and react directly to the situation and the circumstances that they’re in.”
Never underestimate the power of culture. No matter how strong or detailed your change plan, its success depends entirely on the collective attitude, behavior and commitment of the people responsible for implementing it. Strategy may define focus, direction and required outcomes, but culture creates the environment in which your strategy either flies or dies. And, if your people aren’t passionate about your vision for change, then even the best intentions are doomed to fail.
Building resilience through empathy
5. Making it personal
Feeling cared about shields us against stress, increases positive emotions and promotes resilience.
Sometimes change comes at us from all sides — work and home; professional and personal. When we feel we have to handle these pressures alone, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. University of California, Berkeley, psychologist Rick Hanson says that feeling cared about shields us against stress, increases positive emotions and promotes resilience.
The lesson here is that to build resilience, you need to consider these human factors too. Research from the U.S. National Institutes of Health shows that employees consider it important to be treated as a “whole person” who is appreciated both personally and professionally. It also shows that “feeling cared for” improves teamwork, builds loyalty and helps people feel valued.
Support resilience by supporting the person
Cielo’s CHRO Kirsten Mayer believes that, in times of upheaval, you must be empathetic and supportive of the four pillars of people’s personal lives.
- Family relationships
- Their health
- Their job
- Their financial situation
“As a company, you should care about all four pillars,” she says. “People need four strong pillars to be resilient. What supports resilience is flexibility in how you do your work, balancing your working day and, for example, finding time for breaks after dealing with complicated or challenging moments.”
It's clear that, to build resilience, people need to feel safe. We believe that being flexible and giving people the time they need to dedicate to their personal lives gives them that safety, and more headspace and energy to take on challenges at work.
CieloResilience requires energy — and energy comes from having some sense of security.
"People need to trust that you have their best interests in mind throughout any change — and that trust pays you back in terms of their willingness to absorb more change; potentially, even, at a faster pace,” adds Thiel.
In our experience, employees who feel secure and valued are more engaged, more productive, more resilient — and more likely to stay for the long term. That’s something we should all care about.
Make sure your people are better informed, better prepared, and better equipped to adapt.
Change never happens quickly and smoothly. If your people don't feel considered, informed, focused and engaged in the process — supported in their daily lives and part of a greater whole — the challenge will be much greater.
Ultimately, change asks a lot of us — as professionals and as people. Certainly, it can be difficult to embrace the promise of the new. Human nature makes us want to cling to what we're comfortable with.
Yes, stepping into the unknown can be scary. But resilience during change is a cultural behavior and a skill that can be developed over time. Making sure that your people are better informed, better prepared and better equipped to adapt to new conditions will help them approach change with a clear, committed, constructive mindset.
About the authors
Chief Human Resources Officer, Cielo
Kirsten Mayer is a dynamic and seasoned HR executive with over 18 years of experience in Human Resources driving strategic talent initiatives across global organizations.
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Chief Operating Officer, Cielo
As Chief Operating Officer, Molly enables Cielo’s mission by ensuring we have the best talent positioned to provide excellent client service. She oversees talent acquisition, talent management, learning & development and HR operations for Cielo’s global operations.
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Chief Revenue Officer, Cielo
As Chief Revenue Officer, Tara oversees the business initiatives to drive both short- and long-term strategies to meet Cielo’s key objectives.
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