7 ways to build resilience at work
Resilience in the workplace is more relevant now than ever. It is not only important for individuals’ wellbeing to cope with changes and challenges at work. It is also important for organisations to be resilient to survive.
In this article, we will look at what resilience is and how building resilience can help you to not only cope, but flourish at work.
We will discuss:
What is resilience?
What is resilience in the workplace?
Why is resilience important in the workplace?
Can you learn resilience?
7 ways to build your resilience
What is resilience?
Let us start with understanding what resilience is. In the physical sciences, objects or materials are called resilient if they resume their original shape upon being bent or stretched. For example, a rubber stress toy will bounce back to its original shape after you squeeze it. In people, the term resilience is commonly defined as the capacity to bounce back after an adverse event.
But is that a bit simplistic?
I like the Harvard University psychologist George Vaillant’s description of people who are resilient as resembling “a twig with a fresh, green living core”. When twisted out of shape, like a twig, it does not break; instead, it springs back and continues growing.
From her research, mainly with teachers, Susan Beltman summarised resilience in the following way:
“Resilience is a dynamic process or outcome that is the result of interaction over time between a person and the environment … Individual characteristics such as self-efficacy, confidence and coping strategies are important in overcoming challenging situations or recurring setbacks … Difficulties are not simply managed, but individuals are able to bounce back quickly and efficiently, persevere and thrive … Successful adaptation occurs despite obstacles and personal wellbeing is maintained … Reciprocal, mutually supportive personal, professional and peer relationships are important in this process.”
The above quote emphasises that resilience is an evolving process that is about thriving, not just surviving. It involves supportive relationships, not just individual effort and is about adaptive and flexible responses.
What is resilience in the workplace?
Resilience in the workplace, also known as career resilience, is being able to bounce back from changes and challenges at work.
Let’s face it – the work environment can be a challenging place. Especially at the moment. The effects of Covid-19 have bought more job uncertainty and change.
Examples of being resilient in the workplace could mean that your job is made redundant and you view it in a positive light and as an opportunity to try something new. You will have the motivation and confidence to apply for new jobs and go for interviews. Or, perhaps you have had an appraisal where it had not been as you wished. Being resilient means that you would view this as having some useful feedback that you can work on to improve your performance.
Why is Resilience Important in the Workplace?
Career resilience can mean that you cope better with challenges and change. It means that when you have knock backs at work, you are able to get back on track and carry on.
Some of the reasons why resilience is important to work are:
1. Wellbeing
Being resilient can benefit psychological wellbeing. Research has shown happy and healthy employees are, amongst other desirable traits, more productive, creative and healthier. So being able to cope with change and stress can help you to be happier at work.
From an employer, manager or team member’s perspective, resilience is important as it can help to reduce absenteeism. Being off from stress or illness caused by stress has an impact on others.
2 - Performance
Being resilient can have a positive effect on performance. Being able to bounce back from adversity means you will be able to cope better with different situations. Believing you can do something goes a long way to achieving it.
3 - Adaptability
If you are resilient, you are more likely to adapt to changing circumstances. Adaptability is one of the key sought after skills for the modern workplace. You need to be adaptable to survive and flourish in today’s workplace.
4 – Learning and Developing
Learning and developing is trying new things and learning from experience. Being low on resilience may mean you are less likely to try new things if you are frightened of failure. Learning and developing at work can, of course, have a positive effect on your career development.
5 – Problem Solving
Being more resilient can mean more sustained effort with difficult problems. Rather than giving up when things go wrong, you may find you are more tenacious to stick with something until you get it sorted.
Can you learn resilience?
Research over time has shown different people react differently to different stressors and situations. It was therefore thought that resilience was an innate ability - you either had it or you did not. More recent research has shown that you can learn resilience.
Seminal work by Carol Dweck on Mindset pointed to two types of ways of looking at the world. That of a “fixed” or “growth mindset”. If you have a fixed mindset you believe that your attributes are fixed. If you have a growth mindset, you believe in self-development and learning. You will view failure as a signal to pay attention, invest effort, apply time to practice, and master the new learning opportunity. You are confident that you are able to learn and improve your performance.
7 ways to build resilience
1. Evaluate what is going on
First of all, you need to find out what you want to change if you feel low on resilience. For example, you might feel that you are not coping with situations at work, or feel yourself being dragged down by the situations around you.
Once you know what you want to change, think about the goal that you want to achieve from working on your resilience.
It is useful to use a cognitive behavioural model here (CBT). Take the situation you are in and jot down your unhelpful thoughts, feelings and actions associated with the situation. These three elements interact with each other. So how you think affects how you feel and what you do, how you feel affects how you think and what you do and what you do affects how you feel and what you think. You can work at all three levels to make a difference. What’s the core belief behind these unhelpful thoughts and feelings? Such as “I’m not good enough” or “I always make mistakes”?
Once you have flushed out your thoughts, feeling and actions, look at what you have written.
a) Are your thoughts right? Do you have thoughts such as “I always do ……” or “I can’t do….” Challenge those over generalisations and come up with some examples to oppose these thoughts or beliefs. I call this the “Thought Court” where you argue against your unhelpful beliefs and thoughts.
b) How can you reframe your thoughts (look at them differently)? For example, if you are going through more change at work and feel you can’t cope, reframe this to an opportunity to learn more.
c) What can you control and what can’t you? Are you worrying about things that are out of your control? Or even over catastrophising?
d) Or is it the opposite? Are you blaming others or being a victim in this situation? Taking ownership of your behaviour is part of being resilient.
e) What can you do differently? Deciding to be more resilient and optimistic can mean you change your actions. Smiling can tell your brain that you are happy and not stressed. What can you do differently that can help you to be more resilient at work?
Now create some new positive thoughts, feeling and actions. Write them down and have a plan on how you can embed them in your new habits.
2. Prioritise Self Care
It is not just athletes that need to look after themselves to do their work well, we all have a responsibility to look after ourselves so we can perform. Self-care involves looking after your physical and mental health. Being resilient takes energy! Being tired from drinking too much, overeating and not getting enough sleep affects resilience.
Sleep gets a special mention as it is the cornerstone of health and wellbeing. We all know what it feels like when you have not had enough sleep. Tiredness affects performance and being able to cope with certain issues. Benefits of sleep include improved memory, enhanced creativity, improved energy and performance levels, better mental health, protection from diseases and illness and improved immunity. Without a proper night’s sleep, your resilience to cope can be reduced.
Researchers, such as Matthew Walker, in his fascinating book Why We Sleep, recommend 8 hours a night’s sleep. His recommendations for a good night’s sleep are:
1. Maintain a sleep schedule: going to bed and getting up at the same time every day. Set an alarm for bedtime as well as getting uptime
2. Exercise is beneficial but do avoid exercising 2-3 hours before bedtime
3. Consider whether any prescribed medication could be affecting sleep
4. Avoid caffeine after 2 pm and nicotine altogether
5. Avoid large meals and drinks late at night
6. Do not nap after 3 pm
7. Relax before bed
8. Have a hot bath before bed
9. Make sure your bedroom is dark, cool, and gadget-free
10. Have exposure to sunlight during the day and avoid bright lights in the evening
11. If you are not asleep within 20 minutes of going to bed, get up and do something relaxing. Your bed should be associated with sleep rather than tossing and turning
3. Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is about finding new ways of being with your thoughts, rather than stopping them. You can not control the thoughts that pop up in your head, but you can control what you do with them. You can find yourself being caught in a difficult spiral of being busy and feeling stressed but feeling to busy to relax. Busyness and stress take over.
Mindfulness is useful to control stress taking over. One of the founders of the contemporary mindfulness movement, Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as, “Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally. It’s about knowing what is on your mind.” So you do not try to stop your thoughts but pay attention to your thoughts, intentions and behaviour with curiosity and generosity and in a non-judgemental way.
Practising mindfulness generally involves taking time out to focus on breathing. When you notice your mind has wandered away from how you’re breathing, come back to noticing your breath again. Bringing your attention back to a point of focus is the essence of mindfulness. You will gradually train yourself to create a distance between your thoughts and be able to manage them more effectively.
Mindfulness takes practice but the benefits have been shown to be advantageous in building resilience and general wellbeing. You develop more of a connection between your mind and body as to what’s going on. Mindfulness allows you to take time out to check-in and learn to pause. It is a skill that is portable and can be done anywhere.
4. Know your strength
What are your strengths and superpowers that can help you be resilient? Knowing yourself and how you react in different situations can help to cope and be resilient.
For the past fifteen years, I have used The Highlands Ability Battery with clients. This is an in-depth evaluation of your innate abilities. Unlike some other tests, it is objective and consists of 19 different work samples for you to complete. As the work samples you tackle are timed, they reveal what your natural abilities and talents are. There are 14 abilities, three personal style dimensions and two skills that are measured. THAB is unlike any aptitude testing you may have done in school, and research has shown its results to be extremely accurate.
You will learn what you are naturally good at and amazing insights as to what comes easily and naturally to you at work. Additionally, you learn how you best communicate, problem-solve, and make decisions and your best working environment according to your abilities. You will gain insights about who you are and what you can do to make work easier for you through detailed bespoke reports and our feedback. Have a look at sample reports here:
Adult Highlands Ability Battery Report Customised Career Exploration Report
Other personality assessments such as Myers Briggs can help gain insights into how you deal with and manage stress and build resilience best.
Knowing yourself can help with your confidence and resilience to achieve what you want to. Making your achievements concrete and visual can also help with your confidence and resilience. Keeping an achievement journal or achievement board can remind you visibly what you are capable of if you are feeling wobbly or need a boost.
5. Develop your optimism
Positive psychologists such as Martin Seligman believe that humans are naturally pessimistic. Your basic instincts are there to keep you safe. Being pessimistic helps you to keep alert for things that can go wrong and possibly harm you. However, optimism is more useful for keeping happy, looking on the bright side and for keeping going and not giving up! Seligman argues that we have to work to be optimistic and that is is a learnt behaviour. Here are three techniques to develop optimism:
As you found out, in the first point in this section, you can change your thoughts and actions by reframing or challenging thinking.
You can also develop positive habits to think more optimistically. Martin Seligman created and researched a technique called The Three Blessings, which is a useful exercise to develop optimism.
To re-educate your attention to the positive, focus your attention, as you end your day, on three things that went well and why they went well. These three items do not have to be huge. It could be that a meeting went well, you did a good presentation at work, you had a great sandwich at lunchtime or even you had a nice chat with a colleague! It works even better if you write these things down in a gratitude journal or notebook at the end of the day.
6. Value your connections
Having a strong network of connections you trust and value can help if you need help. Getting help and sharing a problem can help to cope and be resilient. Do not suffer alone. With the pandemic, you may be working from home by yourself, or having to isolate but there will always be someone there for you if you have developed and built your connections.
Remember to be there for others too when their resilience is down. Positive psychologists have shown that being kind to others actually increases our happiness and resilience levels.
Try a random act of kindness today. This can be sending a nice email or flowers to colleagues. Or writing a supplier a recommendation on LinkedIn - acts of kindness do not have to cost you anything but can have a huge positive impact on building relationships.
5. Be kind to yourself!
And lastly …. be kind to yourself. You can be your worst critic. Self-bashing does not help confidence to complete what you want to achieve. Having self-belief in what you are capable of is hugely beneficial to resilience. Psychologists call this “self-efficacy”. By developing your problem-solving skills you can look at challenges constructively - as problems to be solved rather than feeling overwhelmed.
You have read about how understanding your thoughts, feelings and what you do affects your resilience. Loving yourself is an important part of this. Forgive yourself if you make mistakes, this is part of learning. Try new things so you have the confidence to adapt and change. Do more of what you love doing as this builds endorphins to be resilient to life’s challenges that come your way.
I am Diana Dawson, Founder of Working Career. As a Professional Career Coach, Career Psychologist, Career Counsellor, Career Consultant, Executive Coach and Wellbeing at Work Coach, I work with organisations and individuals to help manage their careers.
I am an Accredited Master Coach with the Association for Coaching, a Coaching Psychologist and Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist with nearly 20 years of experience in the field.
I work with professional people from different sectors and backgrounds to cope and flourish at work. I also run Career Workshops and Wellbeing Workshops for organisations.
I can provide one-to-one career coaching in Edinburgh or zoom sessions worldwide. I can provide Career Workshops at your organisation or remotely. Find out more about me here