Building Resiliency

A resilient work force is a work force that can implement the business changes necessary to keep a company successful. Resiliency doesn’t just appear in the hallways, it is built - one person at a time. Individuals can help themselves become more resilient, but need the company working with them and supporting them, to do it. Managers can help their departments become more resilient and company leaders can do the same by paying attention to their company's resiliency.

The time to think about how resilient your employees are is not right before or in the midst of a large-scale change, but rather well beforehand. The need for a resilient workforce is especially critical in companies who are continuously undergoing changes. As part of the change planning process, it will be important to assess your organization’s resiliency. If it is resilient you will be able to implement your new business strategies with ease. If your organization is not resilient, you will need to take steps to build it up even as you plan for and implement your business changes. Continuous change will require assessment and planning as well.

Research shows that resilient individuals display specific characteristics. Although not all research agrees on every characteristic the four that overlap are: Sense of Purpose, Feeling in Control, Positive Outlook and Physical/Spiritual Well-Being.

Sense of Purpose: Studies show that people with a sense of purpose in their life use it as a stabilizer in times of change. Having a sense of purpose helps you manage through disruptions more effectively because it also gives you a context or perspective for the change. It is not uncommon to get so involved in the day to day activities of life and work that you forget your reasons for being there in the first place. Developing a sense of purpose where you don’t have one will help you manage through change, and the disruption it usually brings, more efficiently.

As a company the root of your sense of purpose can be found in the company’s vision and mission statements. Vision and mission statements are meant to give context and meaning to the work every employee does. Although having a meaningful vision and mission statement doesn’t guarantee resiliency at the individual level, it is an essential ingredient in an organization’s resiliency. Ask yourselves these questions: Are the company vision and mission statements known throughout the organization? Do people understand them? And the most important question of all: Do your employees believe in the vision and mission statements of the company?

Feeling in Control: People who feel in control of themselves and their world are more confident as they move through change. When we are not in control we feel unsettled which may lead to lower productivity and effectiveness. Even though a change may make you temporarily feel out of control, if you started out feeling in control you will be able to return to that state. On the other hand, if you continuously feel out of control, any disruption will heighten that feeling. It is difficult to change your need for control without serious psychological work. It is easier to identify the level of that need and pay attention when it comes up in work situations.

At an organizational level, having an environment where people feel in control of their work lives is key. An organization that encourages people to control their success, and gives them the tools and support they need is a resilient organization. As you assess Control in your company, ask yourself this question: As a company, do we encourage people to take responsibility for their own success – and then allow them to do it? Many companies tell people they are accountable or responsible, but then don’t give them the tools or support they need to be successful. This mixed message will undermine your company’s resiliency.

Teaching employees to be their own guides during change is one way of building feelings of control. By teaching employees to create their own map of a change, they can build on their own feelings of control and as a result, resiliency. A map is basically helping them answer some very simple questions – what is the change, how does it relate to our current business, what will I do differently, what will my team do differently as a result, what other parts of the company are affected, what opportunities to I see?

For most people, once they know the answers to the questions listed above, they can begin to manage through the change successfully. More questions will come up and people’s need for control doesn’t go away, but at least they will understand how the change will affect them.

Positive Outlook : Optimism or a positive outlook on life is very helpful in managing through change successfully and efficiently. An important component of having a positive outlook is not to ignore the potential downsides of a situation, but not to dwell on them either. Some people are naturally optimistic and hold a positive outlook on life; some people are naturally pessimistic but can learn how to have a positive outlook. Resilient people not only focus on the opportunities that can emerge from change, but they can see themselves taking advantage of those opportunities…and succeeding.

As a company, negativity plays a big role in the level of resiliency that can be found. At the individual level that is called negative “self talk” - the voices inside our head that tell us how we are doing. At the organizational level that is “never good enough” talk. An organization that always pushes for high achievement may have fallen into the trap of never being satisfied with the current level of performance. While it is good to strive for high achievement, many organizations forget the importance of rewarding and celebrating the current high performance before moving on to the next set of goals. Employees who work extremely hard and exceed their goals, only to be told that their performance is ‘adequate’ are being told that their high performance will “never be good enough”. This organizational negative “self-talk” serves to undermine an individual’s positive outlook; which, in turn, undermines the organization’s resiliency.

Physical and Spiritual Well-Being: It is a well known fact that stress takes a terrible toll on humans both physically and emotionally. It is very hard to be resilient if you are physically and emotionally exhausted. Resilient individuals recognize the importance of this and make a concerted effort to balance their lives with enough rest, time away from work, exercise and healthy foods. Organizations can build the physical and spiritual well-being of their work forces by encouraging and allowing for life balance.

It isn’t the job of the company to be someone’s “mother” and to get them to eat right and exercise. However, providing healthy food in the cafeteria, encouraging exercise through gym facilities or memberships are just a few ways that a company can positively affect their resiliency.

Life balance is often touted by a company, but the number of cars in the parking lot past 8pm at night shows they don’t mean it. A company president who is known to check and send email until 1am, 7 days a week is clearly saying that life balance is not possible for employees. This is clearly a leadership issue because employees will pay more attention to your actions than to your words. Life balance is also business issue. Overworked, burned-out employees are not resilient. A company that needs to change and grow can’t accomplish as much as they need to if they do not have resilient employees. That clearly affects the bottom line.

Resilient individuals can take care of themselves and this helps them move through each change or disruption with ease. Companies made up of resilient individuals will benefit greatly from that. It is important for a company to pay attention to the resiliency of their work force as part of their strategic planning process. After all, you can make all the plans you want but if you don't have resilient individuals to carry them out you may not succeed. There are no short cuts or silver bullets. A resilient company, a successful company, is only as resilient their individual employees.

Curious about how resilient your company is? Wonder what you can do to build resiliency in your company? Beth is only a phone call away! Just call her at 732-786-8223 to discuss your unique situation.

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