How To Build Resilience At Work In 2022
It seems like some people never stumble. Without faltering, they glide through life, all while achieving career success and personal growth. But even the most successful entrepreneurs encounter problems that seem impossible.
Want to know their secret? Resilience. Just like the rest of us, they sometimes trip and fall. They miss a deadline, get stuck on an unexpected issue, or struggle to adjust to a changing industry. But they adapt, they learn, and they keep going.
Life happens fast; sometimes, we have little time to prepare ourselves for the challenges we face. And in 2022, the world is dealing with a lot of uncertainty.
By building resilience in the workplace, we can effectively manage stress and setbacks. Here’s why resilience skills are so crucial for your team and how you can help your employees develop them:
What Is Resilience?
Resilience is a simple concept but a challenging skill to build. It refers to your ability to adapt to adverse events and stressful situations. A resilient person is someone who:
Doesn’t let adverse events hold them back
Communicates with others when they have a problem
Stays productive when stressed
Has an optimistic (and realistic) outlook
Adapts their approach after receiving feedback or criticism
Being resilient helps you develop mental agility; this allows you to solve problems quickly and efficiently. We rely on our psychological resilience to help us focus when things are stressful.
It’s a lot easier to be resilient when we’re feeling positive emotions. But when we’re dealing with financial stressors, concerns about job loss, or an overwhelming workload, our first instinct might be to turn away from the problem. Difficult emotions add stress on top of these other challenges. We may want to close ourselves off and escape from what’s bothering us.
Through resilience training, you can develop skills that enable you to overcome these challenges. Even if you don’t have an immediate solution, your emotional resilience will help you find one.
The Benefits of Resilience in the Workplace
It’s inevitable: In the workplace, we encounter stressful situations. We can’t change the fact that problems will arise, whether we’re dealing with a frustrated client or changes to the business.
When you accept that stress is inevitable, you can stop wasting your energy trying to stifle it or push it away. Instead, you can face issues head-on to find solutions.
Resilient individuals have an easier time focusing on cognitive tasks, improving their self-efficacy (their belief in themselves), and resolving relationship problems with other colleagues.
The only thing we can control is how we respond to situations. It’s liberating to realize that you have the power to change how you react to adversity. Bouncing back from challenges is what resilience is all about. Here’s how workplace resilience can reduce stress and benefit your employees:
Adapt to a changing workplace
If there’s one thing we can bet on, it’s that things are always changing. In a business, uncertainty can make your employees anxious. But with resilience, they’ll learn that they can adapt to new processes.
Prevent serious health problems
When your employees get sick, it directly costs your business, both in terms of revenue and lost productivity. Now and then, we can all fall ill with a bug. But workplace stress can make you sick, too; it can cause headaches, high blood pressure, or worsen chronic conditions. Our resilience levels can help us manage stress and alleviate these health concerns.
Improve problem-solving skills
How often do things go as planned? More often than not, we have to make changes on the fly. Resilience teaches you that when there’s a will, there’s a way.
How To Build Resilience
What can you do to improve team resilience at your business? Try these solutions:
Resilience training
With a workplace training program, you can lower stress and improve employee resilience. Find a professional resilience coach in your area, and schedule a presentation for your employees. This will give your workers the support they need to improve and practice resilience.
Create a resilient workplace culture
As a leader, you have the power to shape the culture of your business. Foster one that encourages open communication, honesty, and adaptability. Let your employees know that they can ask for support when they need it. Lead by example and show your workers how personal resilience can improve their performance.
Taking Care of Your Mental Health
You know that resilience at work is essential—but what about at home?
The events in our personal lives are undoubtedly connected to our workplace performance. If you’re burning the candle at both ends, you’ll find yourself running out of energy in the middle of the week.
Building resilience has a positive effect on other aspects of your career, like your ability to cultivate positive relationships with your coworkers. We’ve listed a few healthy habits that can you practice in your personal life to improve your workplace resilience:
Build strong social connections
Stay connected to the people you love. They give you the support you need to keep going when you’re dealing with adversity. With their assistance, you can overcome obstacles.
Even though you might feel like you have no free time, it’s essential to set aside time for your friends and family. When you share your thoughts with others, you can gain new perspectives on problems you might be stuck on. Connecting with others is a great way to grow your personal resilience.
Check in with yourself
When’s the last time you stopped to ask yourself how you were doing? Self-compassion is a learned skill; for some of us, it comes naturally, and for others, it’s something we need to build on.
Burnout has a way of creeping up upon us. Before we know it, we feel like we’re drowning in stress. This can have a negative impact on our job performance and our well-being. Early warning signs of burnout include:
Fatigue and low energy
Reduced job satisfaction
Pervasive feelings of stress and anxiety
Difficulty sleeping
Physical symptoms (headaches, joint pain, and skin issues)
If you forget to check in with yourself, you might miss these signs entirely. It’s important to take a step back to assess your physical and mental health. When you focus on building your own resilience, you’ll feel more prepared to deal with the challenges you encounter.
Strike a healthy work-life balance
As managers or employees, we spend so much of our time thinking about work. Without a division between our personal lives and our work lives, we may find that developing resilience is easier said than done.
Even the busiest employees need a break sometimes. But if you work from home, you might have a hard time maintaining a work-life balance. Have you considered a coworking space? Whether you’re a freelancer or a team leader, a coworking space offers the flexibility and versatility that you need.
A Coworking Space Can Help You Develop Resilience
Resilience is not something we can develop overnight; it takes time, practice, and patience to hone this skill. But once you start building your resilience, you’ll realize how much strength you have.
A resilient workforce starts with the right workplace. At Workplace One, we can help with that. A coworking space in Toronto can make your business more functional, affordable, and flexible. Interested in learning more about our workspace solutions? Contact us today!