Life will always bring sadness, change and trauma, but resilience skills can help us manage these difficulties with grace.
Resilient people tend to have an eye toward the future and feel less overwhelmed by deadlines, which makes working together with them easier and resulting in higher productivity. They also tend to be more optimistic with an enhanced sense of self-worth.
1. Invest in People
Resilient individuals possess the emotional strength necessary to adapt in the face of trauma, adversity, or change. People without resilience often dwell on problems and feel overwhelmed, turning to unhealthy coping mechanisms such as self-medication or substance abuse for comfort.
Though investing in people may seem counterintuitive during times of turmoil, investing in employees’ wellbeing is actually one of the most crucial things a business can do. Fostering mental and emotional resilience enables employees to adapt more readily to changing conditions while meeting challenges head-on.
Employee engagement also has a direct effect on productivity, meaning companies with engaged and resilient employees are more likely to meet their business goals despite current obstacles. Thus, it’s essential for organizations to listen to employees and take actions based on feedback gleaned from engagement surveys.
2. Develop a Plan
Cultivating resilience in business environments that are susceptible to global crises and economic shifts is of the utmost importance, enabling organizations to flourish no matter what challenges come their way and ensure employees are ready for an emergency situation. Creating an emergency plan provides businesses with an edge as crises unfold, as it ensures employees can respond immediately if an incident arises.
Resilience isn’t about learning to “grin and bear it” nor finding ways to avoid obstacles or resist change – rather, it is an approach to reframing thought patterns and using strengths-based approaches for working through difficulties more effectively.
Businesses can develop resilience strategies by assessing business performance data, identifying early warning signals, and creating contingency plans. Furthermore, providing employees with emotional support services or counseling sessions during stressful periods is proven to boost morale while offering training or drills can increase resilience within the workplace.
3. Embrace Change
Many people mistakenly assume that resilient individuals possess an inborn capacity for managing stress and hardship, yet resilience is an acquired trait which can be developed through various techniques.
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence training can be extremely useful when it comes to building resilience. Furthermore, taking steps to expand or form new social support systems may also prove fruitful in strengthening one’s resilience.
Leaders must embrace change and learn from mistakes, while leaders can also encourage their teams to seek advice from mentors and peers, to foster an environment conducive to failure-learning and develop stronger resilience for sustained organizational success. Resilience building means adapting to adversity by shifting one’s thinking in response to it and reframing one’s mindset in response.
4. Be Flexible
Flexibility is key for businesses of any size when dealing with any crisis, such as COVID-19 pandemic which has left many small businesses scrambling to keep up with customer demands.
Resilient people have an ability to adapt quickly to new circumstances and find ways to work around any obstacles they encounter, while using their problem-solving skills to identify opportunities and remain optimistic. For instance, if they were stuck in traffic on their commute to work, resilient individuals would calmly look for alternate routes or use stress relief techniques in order to control their emotional response.
Resilience is an acquired skill that can be strengthened with practice, so it’s vitally important that you teach your employees how to build it and help them face and overcome challenges in a challenging business environment. By doing this, they may better survive and even thrive!
5. Stay Positive
Maintaining positivity and building resilience when faced with crisis is an invaluable skill that will benefit all areas of your life; personal, professional and overall health alike. Resilience development takes time, so making time to practice self-care may also help in developing it further. A support network and practicing stress reduction techniques such as mindfulness or deep breathing may assist in building your resilience skills further.
Being part of a supportive community and taking advantage of employee benefits like mental health counseling or wellness programs can also be immensely helpful in building resilience. A mental health provider can also assist in helping identify unhealthy coping strategies while teaching healthy ways of handling difficult circumstances.
