What does it mean to rely on resilience?

You’ve likely heard the word resilience a lot lately, but what does it really mean? How does it practically apply to improving the lives of your employees? Chief Science Officer, Dr. Andrew Shatté recently answered this fundamental question in an interview with Greater Boston Radio. He shares how he and his fellow meQuilibrium company founders quickly learned that the concept of resilience isn’t exclusive to mitigating and managing stress. Its impact is far-reaching and helps individuals in all avenues of life - from relationships to productivity at work to our physical and mental health. Emotion control is at the heart of resilience. Resilient people are able to stay calm and focused when going through a stressful event or adversity. They’re equipped to access a self-awareness and sense of confidence, empowering them to navigate their emotional reaction in any given situation. This is a time that pulls at our emotional heartstrings, straining our mental health, and testing our resilience. Yet if we choose to, we can use the experience to reinforce how we see opportunity in change and react in a way that makes the most of that moment - good or bad. A recent study showed 52% of people surveyed have reported spikes in anxiety and 28% have reported an increase in frustration. These were workforce concerns before, and recent events have only compounded them and brought them to light for employers. Learning to be more aware of emotions, gaining the tools and techniques needed to work through them, instead of against them, is essential to supporting employees.

“Our goal is to make everyone more resilient, across the world. And the key is applying it in everyday moments. I think about resilience as evergreen, but every so often there are moments where it will really bloom and now is one of those moments.”

- Andrew Shatté

When HR discusses the idealistic concept of the total employee -- supporting them from every angle and providing what they need, when they need it -- this is it. Science has proven it’s not as “pie in the sky” as many might think; resilience is not an innate trait, it’s a state of mind that can be measured and learned. It comes down to assessing, acknowledging, and strengthening their most vulnerable factors that contribute to how they show up to work each day - their thinking styles and emotions. What happens when you learn to rely on resilience as an organization? You empower a mind that understands self-care, enabling people to contribute as a more purpose-driven and socially supportive team member. That team then learns to perform as a collective, to get the task-at-hand done, leaning on each other's strengths and creatively solving any problem in their path. Ultimately, when teams and leaders evolve together as a community, a well-being and learning culture will emerge, founded in the science of resilience, with a workforce able to live your company’s values, from the bottom up. Take a listen to learn more or reach out to see for yourself how you can build workforce resilience at scale.