Maintaining a Resilient Workforce in Times of Uncertainty

June 21, 2010 - PRLog -- Some have seen a drastic loss in business which translates into a drastic loss of revenue. Others have told me that they are just riding out the storm and hoping for the best until the economy improves.  And still others have embarked on new products and services as a way of re-engineering their businesses not only to stay solvent but to aggressively move forward.  

Riding the “Roller Coaster” of life and our ability to employ resilience during these “ups and downs” can make the difference between our success and failure in our personal life and on the job. Individuals and organizations facing today’s positive and negative events (the ups and downs) will have to draw upon their resilience in order to cope with, survive and move forward during these uncertain times.  The ability to employ resilience or your lack of resilience will determine our success when the dust settles.

What is resilience?   Is it a trait, characteristic or behavior?  Is the ability to be resilient inborn or acquired?  If we have it, can we lose it?  If we don’t have it, can be get it?  We need only to reflect on the rapid changes in our environment to understand the need for Personal Resilience.

Those who have mastered the art of resilience embrace change and move forward in a positive direction in jobs, careers, relationships and life.  

Why is it important to understand Corporate Resilience?  The process of organizational change and how employees react to and implement changes are key to an organization’s success or failure.  Successful organizations realize that corporate resilience is directly related to the resilience of its employees.  

•When 85% of all diseases and illnesses have a direct relationship to stress, what is your employee’s stress costing you?

•How are your employees reacting to your current situation?  Are they experiencing stress?  Are they disengaged?

•Stress can also cause employees to become disengaged in some or all aspects of their jobs.  How much is their disengagement costing you?

The bottom line is that organizations that face change head-on are more creative, can solve problems more quickly and are more successful when their employees, from top management to entry level positions, are resilient. The resilient employees are the ultimate drivers of any change effort.  

Organizations that have mastered the art of resilience embrace change, gain the commitment of stakeholders, customers and employees and move forward in a positive direction in achieving a distinct business advantage.

The organizational benefits of resilience are:

1.Maintain high levels of performance by buffering internal and external obstacles and negativity.
2.Embrace change and uncertainty to move the organizational goals forward in a positive direction.
3.Quickly move to a locus of control and mobilize efforts in times of change.
4.Become proactive in learning to keep current with changing organization and industry requirements.
5.Remain productive on the job even when faced with personal crisis and challenge.

Personal benefits of resilience are:

1.Move forward in life and work with a strong sense of self and purpose.
2.Embrace change and project positive reactions to change.
3.Apply past lessons learned in current and future critical incidents.
4.Trust circumstances and outcomes as a part of life’s continuous learning process.
5.Buffer internal and external negativity.
6.Maintain high levels of performance in personal and work environments.

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Management Training Systems, Inc. specializes in providing customized solutions for organizations in the areas of Strategic Management, Organizational Transformation, Building High Performing Teams and Personnel Selection.