Build A Resilient Workforce

In today's business world, CEOs, managers and staff are under great stress to deliver more in less time. They face conflicting demands, long working hours, and constant change in an unforgiving business environment that keeps getting tougher, busier and faster.

Companies are finding it difficult to hold onto valuable team members because people are quickly becoming over worked, run down, stressed out, and have very little work-life balance. People are finding themselves working harder and longer, and are spending less time with their family and are burning out or leaving their industry altogether.

So, what is the solution?

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Your staff can easily fall into a rut, feel overloaded, or unappreciated... and no-one will ever know until they resign.

Many people deal with pressure by bottling it up instead of letting it out. Instead of communicating their challenges, or talking about their difficulties, people often fall into the trap of whinging to each other, complaining or feeling sorry for themselves - which ultimately leads to a tainted morale and ‘whingy’ culture.

The other consequence of bottling up tension is the negative effect it has on a person’s work productivity. Research has found that stewing over problems and keeping issues to themselves can lead to increased blood pressure, low self confidence and stress - all of which reduce a person’s ability to sustain a strong working stamina and focus.

Leaders need to be in touch with their team and frequently ‘check in’ to see how they are managing their pressures. Making the effort to communicate face to face (not by email, please!) with team members in a relaxed, yet confidential fashion, encourages people to talk about their challenges and see management as support to look towards, instead of a taskmasters to impress.

By encouraging team members to openly feedback their challenges, and then openly brainstorm strategy and/or resources to help them along, management position themselves as a resource, mentor and council. Management are then able to keep their finger on their teams ‘productivity pulse’ without needing to implement a time consuming staff morale and satisfaction review/audit.

Once people feel that they have been heard and understood - only then will they really listen.

Action steps: Connect: Schedule in time, each week to talk and connect with each key team member. Have an agenda of issues you will ask and discuss with them. Stick to a tight time frame or no more than 10 minutes so staff know that they won’t be losing hours of time. Reflect: Let them do the talking - ask open ended questions that allow them to elaborate and reflect on their situation. Direct: Write brief notes to keep a record of the key issues raised. Resist writing copious notes as this may make the person feel uncomfortable as if they are being ‘recorded’. Direct questions about what support they feel they need to excel. Direct feedback that addresses the issues they have raised. Only offer suggestion or direction after they have been given the opportunity to speak.

Let off steam

As your staff spend hours each day sitting in front of computers, in meetings or on the phone, their bodies are slowly becoming drained. The combination of pressure combined with sedentary work habits creates physical tension in the body which, if not released, results in fatigue, poor concentration and apathy.

Like a formula-one racing car, your staff also need regular ‘pit stops’ to refresh and refocus. Physically breaking up their day with movement is a key ingredient to sustain their working stamina. Here are three tips:

Action steps: Encourage breaks. Answering emails and returning calls whilst eating lunch is a recipe that creates pressure and tension build-up – and can eventually to burn-out. Create a culture that rewards self-care. Openly encourage staff to get away from their desk for lunch by providing lunch discounts or coffee vouchers from a local café. Punctuate the day with activity. Incorporate morning or lunch time activity programs such as a ‘get up and go’ walking session. One CEO would call a ‘toothbrush meeting’ once a week at 7.30am, where staff would go for a group morning walk and discuss any pressing challenges and issues with their team members and management. Use micro break reminders. By encouraging staff to get up and move every 60 minutes helps keep their focus fresh and releases building physical tension. One method is to use a stretching software package that regularly prompts staff to stand up and stretch, move or just take a quick break.

Wind it down

Work productivity and efficiency should not be confused with the number of physical hours people are 'seen' to be doing. Work places which reward staff that put in the longest hours, who are 'seen' at work early in the morning and late at night, are shooting themselves in the foot. Consistently working long hours leads to physical, mental, and sometimes, professional, burn out.

To keep your staff fresh, enthusiastic and self motivated, they need to be encouraged to 'switch off' and 'go home'.

Our bodies are designed, by nature, to follow an 'on/off cycle'. We are trained, by daylight, to switch on and wake up, and forced, by darkness, to switch off and slow down.

However, when you push your body to consistently work hard and stay 'switched on' for long periods of time, your body loses the ability to relax, regenerate and repair. Sleep becomes restless, broken and non-refreshing. When you are always in 'work/on mode', you don't get to that deep level of sleep where you body repairs itself.

Staff who fall into the work habits of always working long hours, being available on their mobile after hours, answering emails at home and waking at 3am because their mind is ticking over will not be able to sustain a high level of productivity.

Action steps: Be open to flexitime, where staff can start early and finish early - or start late and finish late. Allow staff to have more choice over their working time instead of expecting ‘visible hours’ in the office. Identify those staff who are at risk of burnout and frequently send them home early or book them a dinner out at a special restaurant with their partner. Find out what hobbies, interests or activities that staff have sacrificed in order to put in the hours at work, and sponsor a regular outing for them on a work afternoon. Educate your staff on how to relax and unwind by introducing meditation, stretching, or Pilates lunchtime classes.

Michael Licenblat B.Sc.(Psych) is a Resilience Expert who helps people in business bounce back fast from pressure, stress and burnout in their work and life. He is a professional speaker, coach and author of three books. To download your free special report on the ‘Seven ways to prevent yourself becoming Over-Worked, Stressed-Out, and Run-Down', visit: www.BounceBackFast.com
First published: 26 April 2006.
Last updated: 24 May 2006.