Resilience (yes again)
‘Resilience isn’t just about learning ways to cope with unfavourable situations, but about identifying ways that will help you move forward so you don’t get ‘stuck’ in places that are detrimental to your overall wellbeing.’
I have previously written about resilience (8/11/2021 Resilience — Respect at Work) and my thoughts and motivation for that blog still stand, but the subject is once again on my mind.
Resilience is again a trending topic – possibly on account of greater awareness of psychosocial hazards and mental wellbeing (and the push for compliance).
However, to quote David Pich (CEO at the Institute of Managers and Leaders), ‘Resilience isn’t just about learning ways to cope with unfavourable situations, but about identifying ways that will help you move forward so you don’t get ‘stuck’ in places that are detrimental to your overall wellbeing.’
Resilience is not toughness or grit, and resilient workplaces require a commitment to organisational resilience as well as encouraging and supporting employees to prioritise their own personal resilience.
I am frequently told that it is often Gen Y and Z employees that struggle with a lack of resilience, and I have certainly seen examples of this; but I am currently reading Amy Edmonson’s newest book – Right kind of wrong – The science of failing well, and have found myself ruminating over a concept:
If we are told that reaching out and asking for help while issues or errors are small or relatively minor will go a long way to create safety (resilient) cultures – then could it be that rather than lacking resilience those employees that are reaching out/being vulnerable/talking about their struggles are in fact practicing and engaging in resilience much more than those employees that struggle through, avoid emotions, and carry-on regardless of their vulnerabilities?
Could it then be that labelling those employees that ask for assistance as lacking resilience is in fact incorrect? Perhaps it is the failure of others in these workplaces, who are in fact letting down those employees who are proactively trying to prioritise and practice personal resilience by not hearing and supporting them. Could this then be an example of a workplace whose lack of organisational resilience is harming the wellbeing and psychological safety of its employees?
Food for thought perhaps…
Remember - respectful workplaces fuel and cultivate resilient employees but they don’t happen without work and commitment. Respect at Work can help facilitate your respectful and resilient organisation.