2020 has proven to be one of the most challenging years for business. Here, at OnBrand we are proud of how we have worked with our clients during this time, supporting them with both strategic thinking and effective delivery of sales campaigns, virtual events, on-site collateral and reassuring content both during and after lockdown.
Not only this, but as a close team we have supported each other through the upheaval and changes into home working and adapted our ways of thinking and working quickly. We often talk about needing to be ‘resilient’ and wanted to explore this further to make a real commitment in 2021. From investing even more in staff wellbeing, taking on board our learning’s from this year and engraining wellbeing into the company ethos. By helping ourselves thrive, we will then be better placed to deliver successful business growth for our clients.
This week, we have a fantastic guest blog from Emma Hossack, the founder of Transforming Minds for Business. Looking at what we mean by resilience and how this impacts business success.
Have a read below:
I am passionate about the impact of wellbeing and resilience in the workplace. Having coached hundreds of clients over the years, I have seen what the mindset can offer in terms of great performance and personal outcomes.
The Oxford Dictionary defines Resilience as: ”The ability of people or things to recover quickly after something unpleasant, such as shock, injury, etc. and the ability of a substance to return to its original shape after it has been bent, stretched or pressed.”
While this definition may describe the ability to ‘bounce back’, what we now know is that resilience is something that can be taught, can be grown and can evolve. The old saying ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ is untrue. Neuroscience now teaches us that we can change, flex and adjust our brains to change our mindsets at any age; they call this ‘Neuroplasticity’.
So why is resilience in the workplace so important?
Resilience is the foundation of our wellbeing, and when good mental health is a priority within businesses the results are clear.
According to Deloitte’s 2020 Monitor Report, poor workplace mental health costs businesses around £45Bn a year, yet for every £1 spent, the return is £5. In 2012, Royal Mail invested £45m in wellbeing and resilience strategies and experienced a £225m return on investment. So you can see, there is a direct correlation between mental wellbeing and performance.
At Transforming Business Minds, we believe that resilience and wellbeing should start from the top. Leaders that foster an open culture, share vulnerabilities and place real value in wellbeing are more likely to see high performance.
While many businesses develop a wellbeing strategy, few adopt a tailored approach to individual resilience and wellbeing. While blanket strategies may offer short term solutions, understanding where each individual is at in terms of mental health and resilience enables each individual, teams and companies to understand where they are and strategies to bridge gaps and build on existing strengths.
How can I enable my business to thrive not just survive?
There is a fine line between performance and crisis, and as we move into 2021, investment into people has never been so important. 80% of our performance is attributed to our mindset, while only 20% technical ability.
We know that businesses that really understand the needs of their people and are committed to implementing strategies around achieving good mental health reap rewards through low attrition and high profitability.
While wellbeing may well be on the agenda, the key is to really understand where you and your people are from a mental health perspective, and demonstrate investment through a wellbeing programme and coaching programme that is designed to bridge the gaps of each person, team and business. This will not only make your people feel listened to, it may also shine a light on how the people within your business that show high resilience and enable them to lead from the front.
So if building resilience isn’t on your agenda, what will be the consequences to your business as we pick ourselves back up from 2020?
Emma Hossack is a Coach, Resilience Practitioner and Founder of Transforming Minds for Business. They look at how good mental health, wellbeing and resilience is achieved through the whole person approach to coaching. Using the WRAW psychometric tool, it focuses on the 5 pillars of resilience: Energy, Future Focus, Flexible Thinking, Inner Drive, Relationships. Measuring individuals to a cohort of 400 worldwide employees, this robust tool marks the overall resilience levels and is also able to split the measure into resilient thoughts and actions. WRAW is an excellent tool that offers evidence, helps create and drive strategy and measure the success of wellbeing strategy and coaching.
You can also learn more about Transforming Minds by clicking here!
