Resilience training in organisations – how useful are they really? Dennis Eighteen and Frank Wippermann at odds – listen to our new podcast episode (in German language).
There are always plenty of different points of view among us in the flow team. That’s a good thing, because they usually lead to us making good progress on a topic. For this podcast episode, we have chosen the topic of resilience training in organisations, and in it we illustrate two different perspectives. I talk to Dennis Eighteen, who is (among other things) a resilience trainer, and to Frank Wippermann, who also claims this job title for himself right at the beginning of the conversation. It’s best to hear for yourself how he comes by it.
Resilience training instead of organisational consulting?
Dennis Eighteen sees a strong need for relaxation methods, especially in times of crisis, due to the high potential for tension in society. That is why he has been dealing with the questions for a long time: How do we deal with everyday stresses and crises? How do we make ourselves strong for situations that are likely to throw us off course? How can we further develop our inner powers of resistance? For him, this is one of the most important tasks that one should dedicate oneself to as an individual. But for organisations, too, dealing with the topic of resilience is a central investment in their own success as well as their future viability.
Frank Wippermann has a clear opinion on the question of what needs to happen in organisations so that employees and managers do not call for resilience training in the first place and what sensible prevention work can look like. It is not for nothing that flow consulting combines personnel and organisational development – and has been doing so very successfully for years. He recommends first systematically analysing how organisational processes and structures can be introduced, implemented and then maintained. For him, the increase in resilience training is an alarm signal that “something” is wrong in the organisation. And instead of poking around at the symptoms of this unclear “something”, it is much more effective for him to go to the causes – and not to shift this responsibility of the organisation onto the individual person.
Read or listen to the viewpoint of sociologist Stefanie Graefe.
Resilience plus contemporary leadership plus good change management
In response to my question about what can be done in terms of organisational development, Dennis says – in a nutshell:
Leadership structures and leadership culture must fit and be up-to-date. Changes have to be sensible. But even then, it is still possible that not all people in the organisation are doing well. This is when resilience training is an effective tool. This is because they give individuals impetus in the areas of solution orientation, optimism, personal responsibility, networking, shaping the future, etc., among others.
Frank, on the other hand, recommends the flow maturity model for a sound organisational analysis in order to position oneself for the challenges of the digital transformation: Where does the organisation have the greatest stress or the most pressing construction sites? Where is there a need to catch up? If this construction site analysis is approached in a planned manner and good change management takes place, then in his estimation the need for resilience training decreases. You are also welcome to listen to our podcast episode on digital maturity.
Analysis of digital maturity
Not either-or but both-as well
Both my interview partners agree that the responsibility for the framework conditions lies with the leaders of the respective organisation. And what Dennis emphasises again here is that a common understanding is needed that mental health, which tends to be pushed aside as a topic or is not allowed to be addressed, is a central component of human health, just like nutrition and exercise. So if people need help and support NOW and cannot wait for the “building site analysis”, then resilience trainings are a useful building block to systematically move forward for themselves.
If you would also like to move forward: We at flow consulting support you in this – both with individual sparring sessions, suitable trainings and with sound organisational consulting. Just give us a call.
And now enjoy the lively back and forth in our podcast episode.
You can also find our podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
Images: flow consulting
