
The importance of building workplace resilience

Summary
Workplace resilience is more about the culture created within an organisation than about individual employeesOne of the questions that clients often ask is: What defines resilience? Given that we live in a world that feels like it is volatile, unpredictable and all about hustling and being constantly available, this is an important question. Whether we work in a corporate office, run our own entrepreneurial venture or are consulting and freelancing, this question needs an answer and defining resilience can have an impact on personal and organisational health.
Resilience has become a word that is often misunderstood and misinterpreted. While a definition exists for resilience at large, workplace resilience is not clearly defined, leading to misconceptions. One of my worries is that we focus too much on individual resilience, forgetting that workplace resilience is so much about the culture that leaders, stakeholders and promoters create within the organisation.
Given that work paradigms have changed in terms of remote and hybrid methods, we need to work towards a definition of workplace resilience that allows employees and organisations to thrive.
Workplace resilience needs a holistic definition focusing on both individual and organisational accountability. Building a culture and creating enabling and supportive environments where individuals can bring their best self is crucial. Besides, employees showing a desire to learn, with the capacity to ask for help, and who see themselves as part of an interdependent team are crucial for organisational and individual growth.
We need to identify factors that protect and those that come in the way of workplace resilience. We are just beginning to acknowledge this and often see definitions of resilience that are diluted and counterproductive for long-term organisational growth and individual health.
Both in therapy sessions and when I’m consulting with organisations, I hear employees say that there is pressure to always be available. As a result, they feel that work never ends. We are falling for the “availability myth"—whereby people are constantly wired and tuned to work, which is impacting their well-being, quality time with family and sleep patterns, leading to immense stress. A young client told me, “My team is available even during festivals and if I’m not, then it feels like I’m flaky and irresponsible."
Also read: When relationships fuel professional growth
There is a lot of focus on employees developing coping abilities, adaptability and flexibility. These are promoted as the components of workplace resilience. While these skills are great, they are not enough by themselves; we also need an environment of psychological and emotional safety.
Amy C. Edmondson, author of The Fearless Organization, was the first to speak about psychological safety and coined the term around 1999. In her book, she explains that psychologically safe workspaces provide a culture of safety whereby individuals can take interpersonal risks and feel comfortable sharing ideas or acknowledging mistakes. These are organisations with a culture of trust, respect, openness, accountability and an environment where learning and supporting each other is valued.
Psychologist and author Susan David has spoken extensively about when to quit versus when to grit. We need to apply this for resilience, too. Believing that resilience comes down to persistence and endurance can go against our well-being. Recognising when it’s not working—burnout, compromised self-esteem and value dissonance—is when we need to introspect.
I hope in the years to come we can build resilient systems and supportive communities at workplaces that enable individuals to shine and organisations to flourish.
Sonali Gupta is a Mumbai-based psychotherapist. She is the author of the book You Will be Alright : A Guide to Navigating Grief and has a YouTube channel, Mental Health with Sonali.