Redefining resilience: Why we need to take a whole-person, whole-organisation approach

At Unmind, we’re dedicating the coming months to exploring the topic of resilience in a post-Covid world. Our aim is to help organisations support the wellbeing of their people through whatever lies ahead. We caught up with clinical psychologist Lene Søvold to discuss the topic. 

The pandemic catalysed a burnout crisis. Leaders around the world are rallying around resilience in response. But organisational resilience has become synonymous with stress management. 2021 calls for a more holistic definition; one that promotes our physical, psychological and social wellbeing.

Over the coming months, we’re exploring what resilience means in a post-Covid world. We’ll talk to employees and employers around the world, as well as psychologists and field experts, to give organisations practical guidance on how to help employees not just tolerate hardship, but to prepare for the unknown, effectively navigate ambiguity, and proactively manage their own mental health.

We spoke with Lene Søvold, Clinical Psychologist and Mental Health Advisor, about the importance of person-centred, broad-spectrum initiatives in building individual and organisational resilience.

Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Lene. So what's behind the burnout crisis? 

During the last decade, stress, burnout and mental health issues have been on the rise across business sectors and organisations worldwide. In many ways, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated such issues further. Some of the risk factors are not having sufficient organisational support and team support and/or insufficient knowledge about effective coping and self-care strategies.

Why do typical stress management resilience training methods fall short of the mark?

Healthy and effective coping is not only a factor of effective stress management. It is not enough to only 'manage' stress after it has arisen. One also has to learn how to recognise early signs of stress, and how to prevent stress and other mental health issues in the long run. It is also about creating healthy work routines, establishing healthy relationships and learning how to build resilience both on an individual and organisational level. 

How does the whole-person approach help to build resilience?

It approaches coping and self-care in a holistic way – where the mental, emotional, physical and interpersonal aspects of a person's health and wellbeing are attended to in a preventive and proactive way. To build a broader sense of resilience, it is important to strengthen all of these aspects to protect one's mental health and wellbeing on a day-to-day basis. Especially when faced with stressful, challenging or unexpected events. If our health and wellbeing are only approached from one or a few aspects or dimensions, we will also only become resilient within one or a few areas. By only eating healthy and exercising, we will perhaps develop a strong physical resilience, but a poorer mental and emotional one.

What key skills and attributes will help people to survive and thrive in life and work in 2021?

These seven skills will support the key aspects of wellbeing: 

• Being flexible and able to adapt to unforeseen changes in both the nature and content of their work.
• Having sufficient digital skills to use new and evolving digital platforms and tools within their work.
• Practicing regular daily routines, including work-related, physical and social activities.
• Practicing self-care – like going for walks in nature or practicing mindfulness, meditation or contemplation on a regular basis.
• Being able to receive and act upon feedback about one's own work performance.
• Being able to communicate preferences and needs and ask for help if needed.
• Practicing empathy for others as well as compassion for oneself.
  

What practical steps can employers take to build resilience in their teams?

The following measures will not only help protect the mental health and wellbeing of the workforce and make them less prone to stress and burnout – they will also increase their job satisfaction as well as the quality and effectiveness of their work. Thus investing in the health and wellbeing of the individual workers, is investing in the health and wellbeing of the organisation as a whole.

• Promote principled leadership and a culture of openness, inclusion, empathy, trust and support.
• Promote openness around mental health and the value of protecting one's mental health and wellbeing. Being aware of signs of mental health issues in ourselves and others, and the value of open and supportive communication.
• Facilitate team building activities, peer support and self-care activities promoted by teams and organisations.
• Promote and reward collaboration, instead of only focusing on individuality and competition.
• Ensure that the workload is in line with the capabilities and resources of individual workers.
• Define workers’ roles and responsibilities in a clear way.
• Give workers the opportunity to contribute to decisions and interventions affecting their work.
• Offer digital or physical programmes or workshops for promoting personal and professional development, as well as for learning how to build resilience on an individual and organisational level.
  
  

About Lene Søvold

Lene is a clinical psychologist based in Norway, who works within a broad spectrum of health-related issues and contexts. She advocates a person-centred and integrative approach to health and wellbeing, and is passionate about promoting mental health, interpersonal skills and empowerment – both within traditional healthcare and digital health contexts, as well as within organisational and educational settings. Among recent projects, she's been working on developing an integrative framework to help guide both clinical work and future research in better understanding, evaluating and promoting the user experience across health interventions and contexts. You can find her on LinkedIn here. 

If you'd like to learn about supporting your employees' psychological, physical and social wellbeing with the Unmind workplace mental health platform, book a chat with one of our specialists.