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How is Resilience Achieved?

Reflexivity
Reflexivity in the organisational context means the ability to reflect about and anticipate the impacts of change. Good and sustainable organisations build a set of reflexive mechanisms inside their organisation, they embed them in the organisation to enable smooth transitions. Reflexivity also focuses on the need to bring the employee into the centre of work practices, to underline the importance of continuing learning and the necessity to prioritise personnel’s tacit and explicit knowledge if the organisation is to be sustainable in the long run.

To be reflexive has both an individual and an organisational character; for the former it means ‘making sense of one’s work’ not as a sociological or abstract issue but; in finding meaning in one’s work, a key factor for experiencing a sense of coherence, wellbeing and resilience at work, secondly it is vitally necessary for innovation and the development and production of quality goods and services.

Reflexivity in practice includes:
• a degree of individual and team autonomy in creating spaces in which to address problems and explore ways of doing things differently;
• regular and structured opportunities for the continuous improvement of processes and products;
• ease of communication and dialogue across functional and hierarchical boundaries;
• the use of methods designed to stimulate dialogue and critical reflection.
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Resources
The following case studies offer further insight into reflexivity:

BT
Ericsson Radio
Mammut Workwear
Vestre Kirkegaard

This paper provides a detailed account of a reflexive approach to change at a UK hospital.

This paper from the EU-funded Innoflex project provides an overview of concepts and practice behind reflexive approaches to work organisation.

These links provide information on different techniques for engaging employees at all levels in reflexive activities:

Change Conferences
Employee Driven Scenarios
Forum Theatre [coming soon]

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