Building resilience to overcome burnout and enhance wellbeing!

Change is always a challenge, and today it's happening faster than ever! Whether you’re reacting to external pressures or adapting to digitalisation and globalisation, this quick pace can really affect your employees' wellbeing. Many people struggle with uncertainty and may find it hard to cope, adapt, and stay resilient under pressure, leading to burnout and stress.

However, change can be positive if handled well so supporting your employees through these times is crucial. By investing in their wellbeing, you can improve performance, reduce turnover, increase organisational agility, and boost engagement with a sense of purpose.

Resilience is key to organisational success because it enhances wellbeing and adaptability!

Developing resilience is key to wellbeing because when people are resilient, they handle stress better and adapt to changes more easily. This creates a supportive environment where everyone feels valued, and diverse viewpoints are welcomed. In turn, this supportive atmosphere promotes an inclusive workplace where people feel encouraged to share ideas and work together. The result is a creative and successful team where everyone can thrive.

At Starling Business Solutions , we use the Talogy Resilience Questionnaire to show organisations how building resilience and an inclusive workplace where employee wellbeing is crucial to success.

So what do we mean by resilience?

Resilience is the ability and extent to which people handle pressure, setbacks, challenges, and change positively, keeping you performing at your best and feeling well. This article explores the main parts of psychological resilience, thought patterns and behaviours that help you deal with adversity effectively and the importance of investing in your employees’ wellbeing to enhance performance and prevent burnout.

The eight measures of the resilience scale

1. Self belief: Confidence in your ability to achieve goals and overcome obstacles.
2. Optimism: Keeping a positive outlook and expecting good outcomes even in tough times.
3. Ingenuity: Thinking creatively and innovatively to solve problems and face challenges.
4. Challenge orientation: Seeing challenges and perceiving stretching situations as opportunities to learn and develop instead of threats.
5. Adaptability: Flexibility and willingness to adapt your behaviour and approach to changing circumstances.
6. Emotional regulation: Managing and responding to emotions in a calm, healthy way through stressful situations.
7. Support seeking: Reaching out for help and building strong support networks.
8. Purposeful direction: Having a clear sense of purpose and direction that drives your actions and decisions, and having clear goals that you are committed to achieving them.

Understanding the 'cycle of resilience'

During crises, you often go through a process we call the cycle of resilience. This cycle involves four stages:

• Survive - how you respond! The immediate reaction to an unexpected event, marked by surprise or disbelief. It’s about handling the initial impact and managing the immediate fallout.
• Adapt - how you adjust! Gradually adapting to the new reality, gathering information, and planning. It involves being flexible and resourceful to navigate the changing circumstances.
• Recover - how you bounce back! Implementing strategies to recover from the situation, often requires ingenuity and adaptability. It’s about regaining stability and learning from the experience.
• Thrive - how you grow! Reflecting on what worked, what didn’t, and how to improve future responses. This stage focuses on growth, emerging stronger, and using new skills and insights to flourish.

"Building resilience helps us all handle life's ups and downs better. When we support each other in becoming more resilient, we create a friendly, inclusive workplace where everyone's ideas count. This leads to more creativity and success for the whole team."

Using social and relationship skills is crucial for developing resilience and maintaining wellbeing. In the modern world where employees are operating in remote and hybrid work settings, building and maintaining relationships takes intentional effort! So, here are five practical ways to enhance these skills:

1. Focus on personal connections

Remote work has made us more productive, but it’s also cut down on social interactions. To fix this, try setting aside time at the beginning or end of calls for personal check-ins. Asking questions about how people are feeling, rather than just focusing on tasks, can help strengthen relationships and give you a better understanding of your colleagues' experiences. This not only builds stronger connections but also boosts resilience by creating a supportive environment where everyone feels heard and valued.

2. Revitalise your network

With fewer daily interactions, it's important to take a look at your relationships and see which ones need a little more attention. This can help you figure out who you can rely on for support, both at work and in your personal life. Strengthening these connections builds resilience by ensuring you have a solid support network to help you through tough times.

3. Customise communication to preferences

Getting to know how your team likes to communicate can cut down on digital stress and keep everyone more engaged. Try using personality profiles and team agreements to decide on the best ways to communicate and how often to meet. This approach builds resilience by making sure everyone feels comfortable and connected, which helps the team handle challenges better.

4. Create informal interaction opportunities

Spontaneous interactions are rare now, so find new ways to connect, like 'virtual coffee' chats or 'walking meetings' with colleagues. These quick, casual meetups can bring back some of the camaraderie of office life and build resilience by keeping everyone feeling connected and supported.

5. Build deeper connections

Use video calls to get to know your colleagues better, like learning about their home setup and interests - do this respectfully and only if they're comfortable with it. This helps build deeper connections, which strengthens resilience by creating a supportive network where everyone feels understood.

Why is resilience important for businesses?

While market forces and operational systems are important for an organisation’s success, it’s the people who really make the difference. An organisation's ability to survive, adapt, recover, or thrive comes from the bravery, creativity, and strength of resilient employees working together. Research shows that resilient employees perform better, are more engaged at work, and are more open to learning.

Book a consultation with us to learn more about the Talogy Resilience Questionnaire and how we can help you create a resilient and adaptable culture.

https://starlingbusinesssolutions.com/resilience/

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