Increase employee resilience? 4 important points

Increase employee resilience?  When an employee feels good and has a positive attitude, he performs considerably better. Unfortunately, there are always sources of stress at work and employees have to deal with negative emotions that can deplete. The workload can increase because more productivity is required or because the assignments become more complex. Unspoken expectations and miscommunication can also increase stress levels. A certain amount of stress does not have to always be bad and can give an employee that extra push to go for it. But too much stress is not good. How is it possible that one employee seems to cope better with stress than another? What can a manager do to help employees become more resilient?

Meaningful Work

Resilient people can continue well and keep their focus. They succeed, among other things, because they have clear ambitions that are very meaningful to them. As a manager, do you know what motivates your employees? Make sure they feel that they are important to the company, that they contribute to a larger whole and that their work makes sense. When an employee is enthusiastic and passionate about his work, he is better able to deal with a temporarily increased workload or changes. Meaningful work means that the right employee is in the right place.

For this, read the article: Internal mobility

Enough Rest

It is known that in Dutch culture that ‘lazing’ is actually not accepted. We do not allow ourselves or others to take it easy every now and then. Yet it is generally known that working hard all the time is not healthy either. The right balance between tension and relaxation will yield the best results. It is therefore important that you keep an eye on whether employees dare to take time off and allow themselves time out or a holiday. Or do they take their work home or do they work a lot? Let them know that it is important to take time to rest and that life is about more than just work. For example, propose them to take a number of free hours or to close the working day earlier.

The right balance revolves around a work-rest ratio. Employees who always give 100% eventually perform less and burnout earlier.

Prevent a burnout of employees with this article: Colleague with burnout, what can you do?

Healthy Living

The productivity of employees increases considerably if they exercise enough, eat a variety of balanced food and get enough sleep. Moreover, their resilience is increased if they live healthily. Therefore, try to keep an eye on the eating behaviour of your employees and motivate them to eat healthier. For example, make sure there is fruit in the office. You could also promote sport and exercise in the department. This is especially important for office jobs. Healthy food in stress situations is crucial. Stress depletes the body and must, therefore, be able to recover.

Also read: learning goals for employees (to reduce stress)

Space for Development

Resilient employees do not allow themselves to be overwhelmed by stress situations, because they can put the situation in perspective. They realize that after a while the situation can be completely different and that it could always be worse. Neither can they be upset if something goes wrong. They see it as an opportunity to learn. Managers can give their employees room to learn and develop themselves. It is often required that everyone be equally good at everything and you should be able to handle everything. If you don’t know or can’t do something, it is understood as a weakness. You cannot be vulnerable. Try to break this way of thinking as a manager by not seeing the shortcomings of employees as a weakness, but by giving them room to develop.

Also read: Reintegration of an employee after burnout

‘Everything you pay attention to grows. If you focus on work happiness, the absence will decrease’

 Helping to increase employee resilience

Increasing the employee resilience of employees revolves around changing/adjusting vision and gaining autonomy. How does an employee view his work? (vision) How can an employee be and stay himself? (autonomy). How can an employee increase his resilience?