Organisational resilience that supports work ability
Working life is constantly changing, and each era brings with it new challenges and opportunities. In recent years, technological development has brought about many changes within the workplace.
Changes in work are always experienced individually. A negative change experience can weaken wellbeing at work, but at its best, change offers opportunities to learn new things and develop work to run more smoothly.
Companies need research based knowledge to develop practices that support employees’ work ability in a changing working environment.
Organisational resilience that supports work ability -study examines the resources that enable change readiness and explores employees’ experiences of changes at Finnish workplaces.
Elo’s Study on Organisational Resilience that Supports Work Ability
In our research report, Organisational Resilience that Supports Work Ability, we examine resilience comprehensively from the perspectives of business leaders, HR specialists, and employees. The report reviews organisational resources that support employees’ work ability and the smooth flow of work in a changing working life.
Elo’s analyses approach organisational resilience holistically. The research material consists of Elo’s survey on change experiences among client companies (2025), interviews with HR specialists (2025), a joint SME decision‑maker survey with LähiTapiola (2024 and 2025) as well as results from Elo’s Workplace Community Survey (2022–2024).
Building Organisational Resilience Creates the Conditions for Successful Change
Organisational resilience refers to an organisation’s ability to adapt to change and maintain operations under shifting conditions.
Resilience is built on identified resources that help anticipate change and support organisational renewal and learning.
Resilience is not only about coping with setbacks but also about turning change into opportunity.
Elo’s analysis identifies key resilience‑related resources that protect employees during transitions and support the smooth flow of work:
- Proactive and renewal‑oriented practices
- Smooth collaboration and trust
- Leadership that supports learning
- Solution‑focused ways of working
- Psychological safety
- Participation and support during change
The results of the analyses can be summarised in five main points.
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1. Monitoring the operating environment facilitates change readiness in SMEs
Business leader survey results show that Finnish workplaces actively monitor signals of change. -
Good daily management creates the foundation for work ability in the face of changes.
HR interviews highlight that resilience develops through strong everyday leadership. Reasonable job demands, high quality supervisory work, support for learning, and smooth collaboration provide the basis for renewal and adaptation. -
Psychological safety enables joint work development
Workplace Community Survey data shows that psychological safety is a prerequisite for developing work together. Discussions about changes and participation in development are significantly more common when psychological safety is strong. -
A positive change experience supports work ability
Elo’s survey on change experiences illustrates that a worker’s personal experience of change strongly affects how it influences workflow and wellbeing. -
Successful change requires the strengthening of organisational resilience
The survey demonstrates that the stronger employees perceive their organisation’s resilience, the more satisfied they are with how changes are implemented.
Tools for Strengthening Organisational Resilience
Resilience related resources should be viewed as goals to strive toward. They are not merely existing strengths but continuous areas of development that form part of everyday leadership supporting work ability.Alongside the Organisational Resilience that Supports Work Ability study, practical tools were developed—based on research and workplace observations—to support companies in assessing and strengthening these resources. This material package will be available at the beginning of 2026 in Elo’s learning environment, Elokanava.
