Tackling resilience and agility in the education industry

Attributes driving resilience and agility in education

Educational institutions must be able to adjust to changing enrollment patterns, remote learning, shifting funding priorities and more at any given moment. Our analysis identified the 10 most important attributes that impact an organization's level of resilience and agility across industries. Understanding these attributes is crucial for education leaders to ensure their institutions can pivot and thrive.

1. Documented and shared risk tolerance
2. Compliance controls that ensure people follow policies
3. Clear vision set by leadership and followed by employees
4. Organization and governance that enable resilience and agility
5. Openness to change, allowing the organization to move faster than its competitors
6. Voice-of-employee processes and tools to respond to the changing needs of the workforce
7. Strong communication setup with specific tools and channels to keep everyone up to date
8. Active knowledge sharing within the organization so everyone has the information they need
9. Ongoing collection of data analytics on products and services
10. Effective change management process to ensure new technologies impact the organization in a positive way

Educational organizations can leverage all of these attributes to build resilience, with special attention to leadership, technology and setting a clear vision.

Four of the top 10 drivers are well-leveraged within educational institutions (over 55% of respondents are actively leveraging these drivers): Effective compliance (2), following leadership’s vision (3), governance and organizational structure (4) and people being open to change (5). Some attributes are well-leveraged but have low impact:

• Adaptable technology
• Clear leadership vision
• Cybersecurity
• Adding new capabilities

However, there’s an important gap to close, as one attribute is very impactful yet underleveraged in education: Documented risk tolerance. Given that this attribute is among the top drivers of business resilience and agility, the analysis suggests that educational institutions invested in growth and long-term success should prioritize their documented risk tolerance. This means all employees should be aware of the accepted level of risk within the organization, and they should consider that tolerance in all decision-making.

Barriers to business resilience and agility

Further analysis of the most impactful drivers of resilience and agility reveals four main barriers that companies must overcome to achieve meaningful success:

• People: Neglecting to see them as the challenge and solution
• Technology: Treating it as the solution rather than the foundation
• Alignment: Failing to balance compliance with autonomy
• Goals: Companies bouncing back but not forward

When it comes to the education sector’s four underleveraged drivers of success, all four barriers — people, technology, alignment and goals — stand in the way of institutions achieving greater resilience and agility. For example, effective leadership (people) is critical to developing and implementing strategies that support student success, particularly in the face of unexpected changes. Innovative leaders can better guide their organizations through crises and help them move forward from challenges to achieve even greater success.

Technology is another key dimension that institutions should invest in and stay up to date with to enable remote learning, enhance administrative processes and improve the overall student experience. When used effectively, technology provides a foundation for innovation and creative learning experiences. It can also facilitate the gathering and analysis of data to inform decision-making and help institutions respond to changing needs and circumstances. By staying attuned to shifts, educational leaders can make informed decisions about curriculum, program offerings and institutional priorities to help them weather headwinds and remain competitive.

Additionally, for an educational institution to remain agile, executives and employees must remain aligned in their goals and vision. If they aren’t, executives may be compelled to implement stricter compliance rules and procedures, which can consequently slow institutional growth and momentum. Institutions can address this challenge by defining shared goals, understanding their available tools and making informed decisions for and with staff.

We’ve established the importance of educational institutions having well-defined core values and objectives, but leaders must also be able to adapt these objectives when necessary. Your institution can achieve this by investing in innovation and dedicating time and resources toward strategically developing innovative products and processes.

Reliance and agility are essential teaching

Institutions must foster a culture that supports employees to make decisions and act without leadership involvement, enabling them to adapt and respond to challenges quickly. Educating employees on the institution’s core values and procedures can empower them to lead more effectively and teach students in a way that is most aligned with the institution’s vision.

Building resilience and agility is critical for the education industry to adapt and thrive in uncertain times, and it shouldn’t be a one-time effort. Our report highlights the importance of consistent investment of time and resources in innovation, including a robust organizational structure that fosters fast group decision-making. By understanding the dimensions of resilience and agility and the barriers that impact them, your institution can develop resilient processes and take major, agile leaps forward.