1. ORGAnisational resilience analysis introduction
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no

2. Why talk about Organisational Resilience?
Resilience is an answer to growing industrial and societal complexity
Digitalisation
Automation
Growing organisations
Globalisation
Safety science has become interested in the concept of resilience much because of the growing complexity of our societies.
This complexity is driven by phenomena such as:
Digitalisation – New possibilities of gathering and processing information
Automation – New ways of controlling processes, really affecting work
Growing organisations – more layers, subcontracting, more administration
Globalisation – many enterprises work globally – economic pressures
All of these conditions can create more complex working environments
When workplaces become more complex we cannot foresee every possible threat, every possible combination of factors that result in an accident.

3. From Safety I to Safety II
Traditional safety management mainly focuses on when things go wrong - identifying direct/apparent risks and countering them with rules and barriers.
But, most of the time operations are successful - things go right!
Making decisions about how to run the organization and how to shape the workplace based on negative outcomes is a limited approach
This is the shift in focus between Safety I and Safety II - What goes wrong vs. what goes right
Safety II is about understanding how people in the workplace make things work
An incident not primarily a test for the crisis plan of an organization, instead it is a test for how the organisation functions under normal conditions – whether the workplace is adapted to user needs, how experience is built, whether there is working collaboration, how the workplace is managed etc.
Supporting good outcomes demands an understanding of everyday working conditions and how can we reinforce everyday work

4. SOCIETY ORGANISATION FACILITY
To be able to reach Safety II and support organisational resilience, we need to acknowledge that the technical aspects of a workplace only make up a small part of how the organisation achieves its goals
This is called a systems perspective
Behind the technical system (the facility) we have…
the people whose work enable smooth operations
Organisations, their structures, working practice, procedures etc
Technology in the sense of tools, supports, information resources etc that can support or obstruct operations
Organisational culture
Above the organisation, other conditions will also affect operations such as economic pressures, legislation and public interest
Resilience has to do with understanding why things go right, how people adapt in order to handle the situation and be successful – and how we can support these adaptations by developing the whole system.
For all of these aspects of the organization, design thinking can be used to make improvements.

5. Organisational Resilience
”The ability to adapt and succeed under varying conditions and circumstances”
Taking into account…
A Systems Perspective – A system of people and technology
Variability – The system will not always behave in the same way
Complexity – We are sometimes subjected to unforeseen events
What about ”Organisational”?
What can organisations do to enable resilient action?
Organisational Resilience has been defined within IMPROVER as:
The ability to adapt and succeed under varying conditions and circumstances
This includes:
What factors enable people to succeed in the work they do, each and every day
All the adaptations made by people working together, adaptations that are not always described in procedures, but that are crucial for smooth operations
To understand how we can support organizational resilience we need to acknowledge…
A systems perspective
Variability – That working conditions vary and that work in the real world demands experience and creativity
Complexity – That we cannot plan for everything and that every aspect of work cannot be standardised
The “Organisational” part of organizational resilience has to do with the way we reinforce resilient abilities

6. What are some marks of resilient action?
Flexibility in operations: actions, methods, roles, relations…
Creativity
Initiative
Ownership
Engagement
Competence/experience
Room for action
Collaboration
Autonomy
Climate
Support
Resilient action during work is characterized by:
Flexibility in unexpected situations – with respect to actions, methods, roles, collaborations
Creativity and creative collaboration
Initiative – that people are quick to act, something that is made possible by experience.
Ownership, that employees share a sense of responsibility for the workplace and that they want to act to overcome challenges.
All of these marks of resilient action can be matched against organizational traits and practices.
Flexibility
Buildinf of competence and experience – The foundation of resilient action
Room for action – that employees can act on their understanding e.g. with regard to procedures, work design, economics
Collaboration – Sharing knowledge and flexible collaboration
Creativity
An organizational climate promoting creativity and creative collaboration
Support
That people have the right tools for the job – e.g. in terms of working environments, technical/digital support tools, guides, procedures etc
Initiative
That workers are allowed to take initiatives and make decisions
Climate – Open dialogue and broad participation is allowed
Ownership
Engagement – That there are opportunities for the individual to engage actively in problem-solving
That employees are given the opportunity to contribute to and develop many aspects of the workplace
That the organizational climate is including and that hierarchies do not inhibit the employee’s sense of ownership

7. The Organisational Resilience Framework
FUNCTIONS
Design of Roles, Tasks and Processes
Artefact Design – Procedures & Tools
Strengthening Collaboration
Learning & Re-Design
Underlying Concepts & Values
The IORA framework has been structured to show how overall organisational characteristics that support resilience can be broken down into concrete goals and processes.
The elements (functions) at the top level of the framework is based on research from other domains and completed by data from a case study wtihin IMPROVER
Design of roles, tasks and processes
Organisational design – hiearchies, information flow, task design etc
Allowing for flexibility/autonomy
Management – employee engagement, shared understanding
Artefact design – procedures & tools
The environments and tools that support us
When changes are made, how that is done – participative practices, a focus on practical use
That working conditions are continuously questioned and revisioned
Strengthening collaboration
The way relationships are built, both internally and externally
That there is room for collaboration and the building of shared understanding
Learning & re-design
That the organisation tries to understand both crises, everyday working challenges and good outcomes
That findings are used to make improvements
Underlying concepts & values
That the organisation and its leadership apply a systems perspective on management and operations – that many elements of the organisation must function together
That people are a success factor, because experienced employees are good at handling the variability and complexity of the real world
That management and operations are brought closer together
A positive aspect of working with resilience is that the things that support resilient action also make for a more attractive workplace, with more engaged employees and better outcomes overall.

8. How is organisational resilience sustained?
Organisational policies
Design processes
Learning processes
Change processes
Analytical processes
By strengthening the capacity for resilient action through organizational interventions it becomes more likely that organizational resilience is sustained
We do this by shaping organizational artefacts such as:
Organisational policies
Design processes
Learning processes
Change processes
Analytical processes (work analysis, event analysis)

9. Interviews and observations
Process Overview
Context Awareness:
Interviews and observations
Optional local activities
Joint OR analysis workshop
IORA is a simple process where assessment based on narratives – events and experiences are viewed as important to understand what enables the organisation to act resiliently
An assessor engages with people in the organisation collecting cases and narratives that can be used to understand resilient action
This material is analysed for markers of resilience that can be explored, using the IORA framework as a reference
Employees are gathered in a workshop facilitated by the assessor, working through on or several example cases and discussing the findings
The findings are compared to framework indicators
Potential changes or interventions are explored from a use-centred and systemic perspective
The activity itself has a value for organisational resilience, it will allow a discussion of important issues with many voices represented and bring cohesion around them