Have you ever wondered what sets highly successful people apart in the workplace? It’s easy to assume that the key drivers for success lie in factors such as high intelligence or going above and beyond job requirements by taking on extra work or working longer hours. While these characteristics may appear valuable, the modern workplace, characterised by unrelenting deadlines, high stress, and unpredictability, calls for something different. It requires an individual’s ability not only to endure but to adapt and flourish amidst challenges.

Resilience – an often-overlooked trait, has become one of the most important characteristics of an employee to handle stressful situations, learn from failures, and develop a mental fortitude that can turn adversity into an opportunity. HR professionals are now uniquely positioned to not only recognise the importance of resilience but also implement strategies to foster and nurture it among its employees. In this guide, we will explore the different aspects of workplace resilience and its importance in wider organisational goals and strategies.

The Role of HR Professionals in Cultivating Resilience

HR professionals play an important role in cultivating resilience within the workplace at both an individual and organisational level. Fortunately, resilience is a learned trait, it can be developed and strengthened within the right work environment. It is important to understand that you can’t simply ask individuals to be resilient – or expect it. Naturally, some individuals will be more resilient than others, due to their upbringing, past work experience or mental wellbeing, but luckily you can influence how resilient they can become. Additionally, building a resilient workforce takes time. The strategies you implement will be a long-term investment, so you shouldn’t expect to see fast changes.

Find your starting point

Before taking action, we recommend getting a sense of the current level of resilience amongst employees in order to get a better idea of where and how to help. There are many great ways you can do this, but a method we highly recommend is creating a short 10 question survey where employees will be asked to respond to statements on a scale of “Never” to “Always”. These statements should test employees’ current level of resilience with some examples including, “I learn from my mistakes and use them to improve the way I do my job”, or “I successfully manage a high workload for longer periods of time”.

To streamline the process of assessing your team’s resilience, we’ve gone a step further and created a survey for you. This user-friendly survey features ten carefully crafted questions that delve into key aspects of resilience, such as learning from mistakes and managing high workloads. Find our ready-to-use survey at the bottom of this page.

From these results, you can get a good idea of your employee’s level of resilience and understand which areas require more focus than others.

Promote open communication

To build resilience, it is crucial to create a culture of openness and support that encourages individuals to share their challenges, seek help and learn from their experiences, without the fear of reprisal. HR professionals have the opportunity to create a workplace which encourages its employees to share their thoughts, concerns, and ideas by ensuring that there are clear channels in place for employees to report problems or share ideas with management. Creating clear communication channels can help reinforce the idea that it is okay to seek help or share your concerns. This may come in the form of honesty boxes, or confidential online forums where employees can express themselves whenever they need.

Through training and education, HR professionals can provide managers and supervisors with insight into different styles of communication and provide them with opportunities to expand on their own communication skills.  Leaders who foster open communication and create environments where employees feel safe sharing their thoughts and concerns can significantly contribute to building a resilient team. Managers are the people who employees look to for guidance and support when they are experiencing challenges – hence proper communication training is vital. According to Gallup, employees who regularly communicate with their managers are 2.8 times more likely to be engaged in the workplace.

Encourage self-care

Resilience is closely associated with one’s physical and mental wellbeing. Employees who feel great physically and mentally, are more likely to be resilient at work. Therefore, it is important to prioritise employee’s wellbeing by encouraging them to take care of themselves. HR professionals may look into implementing health and wellness programs, providing resources for mental health support, encourage breaks and time-off, or allowing for flexible work arrangements to accommodate to the individual’s personal needs.

Health and wellness programs have proven to be one of the most effective ways to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of employees, to ultimately foster long-lasting resilience and overcome challenges. A few examples of health and wellness programs which have proven to be successful include fitness and exercise programs (e.g., yoga classes and gym memberships for employees), stress management workshops, and financial stress programs.

Lead by example

Leading by example is one of the most powerful ways of promoting resilience within the workplace. HR professionals can introduce numerous resilience building strategies, but if they don’t demonstrate resilience in their own work, these strategies won’t be as effective. HR professionals should model all of the attributes they want to see in employees, by making self-care a priority in their lives, communicating openly and honestly to colleagues, maintaining a positive attitude in the face of adversity and openly discuss the significance of mental health and work to reduce the stigma associated with seeking help.

Conclusion

Building resilience in the workplace is one of the most effective ways to create a strong and powerful workforce which can thrive in the face of adversity, change and setbacks. Building resilience is an ongoing process which requires a proactive approach from HR professionals. By encouraging self-care, and promoting open communication, HR professionals can help create a culture of resilience that benefits both employees and organisation as a whole.

Resilience Survey

To view the survey, click here.