Organizational resilience has become a crucial topic in management literature (Cyrulnik and Jorland 2012) as organizations face an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment (Boulay et al. 2021). In such an environment, organizations that are resilient are more likely to survive and thrive, while those that are not at risk of failure (Giordano-Spring et al. 2022). While organizational resilience is a multidimensional and interdisciplinary concept, one important aspect is the role of individuals in the resilience management process, specifically the levers of the manager-leader and associated behaviors (Frimousse and Peretti 2021).
The objective of this working paper is to examine and analyze a case study of organizational resilience, with a focus on the role of individuals, particularly managers (Nekka and Assens 2020), in the resilience management process. The study is based on the author's personal experience of managing an SME medical IT company for over 20 years. The author highlights the importance of effective communication, emotional intelligence, and ethical leadership in building a resilient organization.
This case study presents a comprehensive synthesis of empirical data from the author's experience and highlights key factors that contributed to the success of the organization. These factors include:
Effective communication: The author emphasizes the importance of communication in building a resilient organization. He stresses the need for active meetings, a broad language specific to humans, and emotional intelligence that allows individuals to anchor their "employee experience" and "collective experience." The author notes that positive and ethical emotions can imprint relationships, define behaviors, and build a reassuring psychological environment (Brillet and Nicolas 2014).
Ethical leadership: The author highlights the importance of ethical leadership in building a resilient organization. He suggests that ethical leadership generates a very powerful organizational resilience capable of resisting violent attacks, such as attempts to poach talents from the organization (Bruna and Jahmane 2020).
Emotional intelligence: The author notes that emotions play a crucial role in building resilience in organizations (Berghmans 2018). He suggests that if emotions are positive and ethical, they can create a cultural bath that reveals talents and inspires individuals to work together towards common goals (Sghari et al. 2015).
The research also proposes a new section of the process communication model to align management communication 3.0 with the specific expectations of Generation Z (Dalmas 2019). The article suggests that this is important in preparing for future challenges and ensuring organizational resilience.
Overall, the paper aims to provide insights into the mechanisms of organizational resilience and the role of individuals, particularly managers, in building and maintaining resilient organizations (Weppe et al. 2013). It also aims to highlight the importance of effective communication, ethical leadership, and emotional intelligence in creating a positive and reassuring environment that can withstand challenges and inspire individuals to work together towards common goals (Albertini and Berger-Remy 2019).
