Kintsugi and Human Resources: How Organizational Scars Strengthen Resilience

In today's business world, organizations face constant challenges, competitiveness, and uncertainty, from internal changes, economic crises, to high employee turnover, organizational resilience becomes a key factor for success, development, and survival. In these times, organizational resilience becomes a key factor for success, development, and survival, and this is where the Japanese concept of kintsugi comes into play. What can we learn from this ancient technique of repairing with gold and how can we apply it in Human Resources?

What is Kintsugi and how does it relate to HR?

Kintsugi is a Japanese handicraft technique that repairs broken objects, usually ceramics, using gold or silver to join the pieces together. Far from hiding the fractures, kintsugi highlights them, transforming the damaged piece into something even more beautiful and valuable. This concept of “beauty in the scars” can be applied to organizations. Companies also experience fractures: internal conflicts, high staff turnover, or economic crises, however, as in Kintsugi, these ruptures can become opportunities to strengthen organizational resilience and transform them.

How to Apply Kintsugi in Human Resources?

Fostering Organizational Transparency

A transparent organization builds trust and facilitates adaptation to change. When HR promotes open conversations about failures and challenges, business “scars” become learning points, not weaknesses; vulnerability can also be a point of strength.

Developing Talent Resilience

Companies that invest in the well-being and personal development of their employees are more resilient. Talent resilience is strengthened through mental health programs, effective leadership, and soft skills development. A resilient team can better adapt to adversity and grow from it.

Value and Learn from Mistakes

Like the gold cracks in kintsugi, companies should not hide their failures, but learn from them. This means valuing mistakes as opportunities for growth. Implementing an organizational culture where failures are celebrated as learnings can generate an environment of continuous innovation.

Innovating from Ruptures

Companies that adopt kintsugi as a philosophy not only repair their processes, but also improve them. By implementing continuous improvement strategies, organizations can strengthen their most vulnerable areas. Human Resources plays a crucial role here, identifying areas for improvement and developing strategies that strengthen the organizational structure.

Post-Crisis Organizational Resilience: The Role of Human Resources

The concept of kintsugi is especially relevant in the post-pandemic work environment. Organizations have experienced deep “fractures” in the way they operate. Organizational resilience, now more than ever, is essential for business sustainability. The HR team must be the leader in this process, guiding the organization to emerge stronger from crises.

Key Human Resources Strategies to Foster Resilience:

Implementing Wellness and Mental Health Programs

Resilience starts with employees' mental health. Wellness programs, psychological counseling, and job disengagement activities can help employees better manage change and recover from stressful situations.

Fostering an Open Feedback Culture

Organizations that promote open and transparent feedback achieve greater resilience. An environment where employees feel comfortable expressing their concerns helps to proactively identify and solve problems.

Strengthening Labor Relations

Just as kintsugi strengthens fractures with gold, HR can strengthen labor relations through proactive management with unions and employees. Building positive relationships helps create an equitable and collaborative work environment.

Benefits of Applying Kintsugi in Corporate Culture

Fostering a Culture of Continuous Learning

Organizations that learn from their ruptures develop a culture of continuous improvement. Just as Kintsugi highlights scars, companies can highlight the lessons learned and improve their organizational culture.

Developing Greater Adaptive Capacity

By applying kintsugi principles, organizations and their employees can improve their ability to adapt to future changes and challenges. Human Resources is key in creating adaptable and resilient teams, ready to face any adversity.

Increased Talent Loyalty or Engagement

An organization that values resilience and repairing with gold rather than blaming or hiding mistakes creates an environment where employees feel safe and valued. This helps reduce turnover and increase commitment to the company.

Value and Learn from Mistakes

Like the gold cracks in kintsugi, companies should not hide their failures, but learn from them. This means valuing mistakes as opportunities for growth. Implementing an organizational culture where failures are celebrated as learnings can generate an environment of continuous innovation.

The art of kintsugi teaches us that fractures do not mean the end, but an opportunity to be reborn even stronger. Organizations, especially in the area of Human Resources, can adopt this philosophy to manage crises, improve processes and build a culture of resilience. Every difficult experience is a golden scar that, far from weakening the organization, makes it more valuable and resilient. As in kintsugi, our companies can emerge from crises not only repaired, but stronger and more valuable.