Build a Resilient Workplace Culture With These 3 Simple Steps

The Oxford Dictionary defines resilience as “The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.” Within the modern organization, leaders and team members are faced with professional challenges and tough problems on a daily basis. From stressful emails, to the idea that employees must always be “plugged-in” to work-related issues even after hours, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stay resilient to professional hardships.

Stress within the workplace has reached such a point of prominence that the World Health Organization has stated that stress is the health epidemic of the 21st century. When left untreated, professional stress can lead to an increase in employee turnover, a loss of productivity due to a lack of engagement and staff presence, and ineffective communication.

Instead of focusing on how you can decrease stress in the workplace, put the proper policies and strategies in place to build a resilient workplace culture that nurtures healthy mindsets and encourages employee engagement.

1. Start at the Top

As with any sustainable change to corporate culture, you’ve got to start at the top. It’s the responsibility of leaders to take initiative and demonstrate the EI tactics and resources they use to conquer problems and stay a step ahead of their stress.

Jump-starting a culture of resilience in your workplace can be as easy as sharing gratitude and giving thanks for a job well done. However, inspiring employees to become self-aware by acknowledging your own stress can work wonders in building resilience. When you need a mental health day, take it. If you need to get out of the office for a quick walk to work through an issue, do it.

When employees see that managers hold themselves accountable to make their professional life less stressful and more productive, they’ll also be inspired to take charge of their own mental wellbeing.

2. Provide Interpersonal Support

Humans are social creatures. When a person feels supported and understood by those around them, they are more inclined to tap into compassion and empathy when making decisions that affect both coworkers and their organization.

With interpersonal support, such as workplace support groups, subsidies for counselling, and an effective human resources department, you can ensure that your team members are maintaining the mental vitality needed to fully engage with their work and peers.

3. Make Emotional Intelligence a Part of Your Work Culture

Five aspects of emotional intelligence that can enhance your workplace include:

• Self-awareness
• Empathy
• Effective communication skills
• Healthy relationship management
• Awareness of your emotional surroundings

When a workplace culture emphasizes the importance of emotional intelligence through their initial and ongoing development strategies, employees and leaders alike can enhance their skills while becoming more resilient to professional challenges they might be facing.

Building workplace resilience isn’t a quick-fix, but is completely achievable with the right policies, processes, and leadership strategies in place.

If you believe your workplace could benefit from professional emotional intelligence development, our team at EI Advantage is always ready to help. Get in touch today on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter to find out more about our upcoming EI training sessions, or how you can book your next EI training session for your organization.