The topic of resilience has been receiving a certain amount of attention in organizations for a number of years now - regardless of whether they are profit-oriented or non-profit. At the same time, the question marks are usually still big: What exactly does resilience mean for us? What skills and routines do we need to learn resilience? And what ideas from organizational practice can help us strengthen our resilience resources? On behalf of the randstad foundation, we have addressed these questions in our new study?
What non-profit and for-profit organizations have in common is that they pursue a specific purpose. At the same time, there are distinguishing features that are expressed in the logics of action, resources, structures and cultures they have at their disposal. Where the differences lie, there are opportunities to learn from each other. This study attempts to make these differences visible with regard to resilience on the basis of empirical studies, to identify good examples of resilient action based on interviews and specialist literature and to derive practical recommendations for non-profit and for-profit organizations in order to strengthen them for future crises. After all, crisis-proof action is a goal that all organizations share, regardless of their orientation.
Cyber attacks, the coronavirus pandemic, staff or financial shortfalls - in recent years, a variety of crises have significantly shaken organizations' ability to act. Similar events will also occur in the future, exacerbated by social challenges such as climate change, skills shortages and democratic crises. In view of this, the resilience of organizations - the ability to deal with crises and, ideally, to emerge from them stronger - is becoming increasingly important.
This study examines how non-profit and for-profit organizations understand and practice resilience in direct comparison. Based on the analysis of empirical studies and interviews, it shows that both types pursue different approaches: For-profit organizations tend to focus on maintaining business operations through stable structures and clear attributions of responsibility, while non-profit organizations are designed to be more flexible and open to change, with long-term learning rarely occurring. Two different cultures of resilience become clear. However, it is also clear that a complexity- and long-term-oriented approach to resilience is not yet sufficiently anchored in either type of organization. Both can learn to strengthen their resilience - also from each other.
There is potential for learning in the following areas:
Creating clear responsibility for resilience
Introduce approaches of systematic foresight and preparation
Strengthen internal and external networking within the organization
Anchoring resilience in the organizational culture
Understanding resilience as part of leadership
Create and use material foundations for resilient action
The study breaks down these topics and develops practical recommendations for improving organizational resilience based on practical examples from non-profit and for-profit organizations.
Resilience is a future competence for organizations. Both for-profit and non-profit organizations must adapt their resilience cultures and strategies accordingly in order to become more crisis-proof, but also more courageous in dealing with crises. This study provides inspiration.
If you have any questions or feedback, please contact Josefa.Kny@betterplace-lab.org.