Studies Show Employee Resilience Linked To Higher Productivity
The UK is experiencing a productivity crisis, and it costs businesses an average of £4,467 per employee every year. However, increasing resilience in the workplace has increased productivity – Onebright shines a light on how employers hold the power to improve resilience and improve employee productivity.
In today’s workplace, the high-demand, fast-paced work culture that places tight deadlines, managing work relationships and staying connected puts enormous pressure on employees and result in work-place stress. It is a pace that can lead to costly consequences on workers’ mental health, but it can also have a significant impact on the growth of a business.
Resilience is the ability to use positive mental skills to remain psychologically steady and focused when facing challenges or adversity. Improving it contributes substantially to how workers deal with stress and perform at work.
When stress is high, resilience is needed.
Even if an employee has never been diagnosed with a mental health disorder, feelings of stress, panic, or being overwhelmed at work are familiar experiences to all of us. These are universal emotions — triggered particularly in high-stress environments and demanding roles — and they can interfere with the quality of work and efficiency.
Not only that, many employees feel like taking some time off will allow them to build back their resilience, but this is not necessarily the solution.
Will a holiday help burnout?
A study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that workers’ who self-reported feelings of burnout had bounced back to their pre-holiday levels within three weeks of taking a break.
A holiday may help employees gain a temporary distance from problems in the workplace, but it won’t solve them.
What is involved in resilience training?
This is where resilience training is so important.
A comprehensive report examining resilience training in the workplace highlights innovative strategies to improve employee mental health and organisational performance and recommends focusing on the following areas:
- Emotion regulation
- Impulse control
- Causal analysis
- Self-efficacy
- Realistic optimism
Clare Price, Head of Psychological Services at Onebright, highlights how company culture is changing, driven by people who want more open and honest conversations around mental health:
“More people want to work for a company that values the employee experience and, in turn, encourages a supportive and collaborative culture, mitigating anxiety and encouraging “healthy productivity.”
The ability to ‘bounce back’ from adversity is an area that can be learned and nurtured in employees using our corporate mental health training modules. They offer practical tools to empower employees to manage their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours while considering the same of their colleagues.
Before introducing resilience training, consider:
Here are three key factors employers need to consider when introducing resilience training in the workplace:
- Understand the needs of your employees. Every organisation is as unique as the people who run them, so what works for each organisation will differ. It is important to identify which areas you see needing training and adapt your approach to suit them better.
- Training leaders to understand mental health. Your management and team leaders will be the first to spot an employee who has had more absent days than usual or is showing up to work but doesn’t have their head in the game (presenteeism). These are easy enough problems to solve, so robust and well-trained leadership is your best investment.
- Create a resilient culture. Promote an open and trusting management style and train managers to understand the importance of supporting employees’ mental well-being. Making a declaration isn’t enough. Commitment to mental health support requires action and regular communication.
Get in touch with us to learn more about our customisable corporate training modules for employee mental health.
