3 GOLDEN RULES TO BUILD RESILIENCE AT WORKPLACE

Posted by: Gunjan Singh, Head of IT

According to research, resilience is built by attitude, behaviour and social support that can be adopted and cultivated by anyone. Factors that lead to resilience include optimism; the ability to stay balanced and manage strong or difficult emotions; a sense of safety and a strong social support system. The good news is that because there is a concrete set of behaviours and skills associated with resilience, you can learn to be more resilient. It has been repeatedly noted that the most resilient individuals and teams aren’t the ones that don’t fail, but rather the ones that fail, learn and thrive because of it. Many of us now work in constantly connected, always-on, highly demanding work cultures where
stress and the risk of burnout are widespread. Since the pace and intensity of contemporary work culture are not likely to change, it’s more important than ever to build resilience skills to effectively navigate your work life.

More than five decades of research point to the fact that resilience is built by attitudes, behaviors and social supports that can be adopted and cultivated by anyone. Factors that lead to resilience include optimism; the ability to stay balanced and manage strong or difficult emotions; a sense of safety and a strong social support system. The good news is that because there is a concrete set of behaviors and skills associated with resilience, you can learn to be more resilient.

Building resilience skills in the contemporary work context doesn’t happen in a vacuum, however. It’s important to understand and manage some of the factors that cause us to feel so overwhelmed and stressed at work. Our current work culture is a direct reflection of the increasing complexity and demands faced by businesses globally. Here are some tips, based on some of the latest neuroscience, behavioral and organizational research:

Exercise mindfulness: People in the business world are increasingly turning their attention to mental training practices associated with mindfulness — and for good reason.  In dynamic work environment, it has been found that mindfulness facilitates job performance , even after accounting for all three dimensions of work engagement – vigor, dedication and absorption. It has even been embarked that online mindfulness programs have been shown to be practical and effective in decreasing employee stress, while improving resiliency and work engagement, thereby enhancing overall employee well- being and organizational performance.

Compartmentalize your cognitive load: One can compartmentalize their cognitive tasks to optimize the way they process that information. Be deliberate about compartmentalizing different types of work activities such as emailing, strategy or brainstorming sessions, and business-as-usual meetings. Compartmentalizing work is useful when you consider that switching from one type of task to another makes it difficult to tune out distractions and reduces productivity Take detachment breaks: Throughout the workday, it’s important to pay attention to the peaks and
valleys of energy and productivity that we all experience. Mental focus, clarity and energy cycles are typically 90-120 minutes long, so it is useful to step away from our work for even a few minutes to reset energy and attention. Balancing work activity with even a brief time for detaching from those activities can promote greater energy, mental clarity, creativity and focus, ultimately growing our capacity for resilience throughout the course of the workday. The long-term payoff is that we preserve energy and prevent burnout over the course of days, weeks and months.