Resilience. Last month, I talked about the importance of both humans and businesses being resilient, particularly during times like these, during upheaval and change.

When it comes to individuals, the path to resilience can be a more obvious endeavor. It’s the ways we adapt, how we recover and how we grow in the face of adversity and stress. It involves emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, self awareness, and developing/maintaining a social support network.

It’s about people cultivating their inner strengths despite external pressures and emerging stronger from their experiences.

That, right there, my friends, is critical for survival. It's what gives us hope.

As I mentioned, being resilient also happens to be critical for businesses and organizations. It’s what ensures the vibrancy of our work and our workforce over time, and in times of adversity.

Big surprise, I happen to think HR has a really important role in cultivating that DNA.

You, as the person or team representing your company culture, have a lot of individual power to enact and create policies and ways of operating that will support the people who have been oppressed. You can build an organization that allows for cognitive flexibility, and the ability to sort of bounce forward; a place where employees emerge even stronger from their experiences.

But, how does this happen? What are the ways that HR professionals can advocate for a culture and environment that fosters resilience? The ways are numerous, but to name a few: Create inclusive policies, build a culture that believes failing is ok, and foster an environment where employees have the freedom to make decisions.

First and perhaps most important in building a resilient organization is creating inclusive policies. Period.

I’m talking about the kind of inclusivity that, even if the government isn’t supporting them, individual organizations can (and ought to) build. Support and fund inclusive policies about which you feel strongly. Do you have medical benefits for everyone? Do you have reproductive rights reflected in your policies for everyone? Do you have adoption coverage for LGBTQ+ couples?

Are you hiring and firing fairly? Are you promoting equitably? When you hire, do you have a Rooney Rule in place where for every three non-diverse candidates, you have one who is diverse? Does your leadership team reflect the culture you want to build? If it doesn’t, then, how do you have these conversations with your CEO and your Executive team?

These are the kinds of small-big things as an HR leader you can advocate for…you might not get all of them, but maybe you get some, and each small change eventually adds up to a big difference. It’s our responsibility to continually chip away in the right direction. Policies and processes are things that HR has a really strong say in, and that’s where you can begin.

Second, work toward building a culture that promotes a growth mindset; the understanding that learning and failing are ok rather than one where you’re expected to be perfect all the time. You can create a safe and non-judgmental space, fostering unconditional positive regard and authenticity. 

You want employees who aren’t afraid to take risks because they might fail. Because if you’re an organization that relies on innovation, and your culture is one of a fixed mindset, you might be shooting yourself in the foot. Encourage trying and failing along with flow experiences by aligning employees’ skills with challenging yet achievable tasks. As an HR leader, and as an organization, you can build all this into the culture and DNA.

And then, I recommend applying strengths-based coaching, while promoting hope, resilience, self-efficacy and optimism to increase motivation and performance. Research shows that organizations that prioritize employee engagement experience higher productivity and reduce overall turnover.

These are all tenets of a person-centered and positive psychology approach, emphasizing adaptability, leadership strengths, and prior success. It’s about reinforcing confidence and resilience using well-being and stress management techniques. All of this helps build resilience in an individual, which ultimately creates a resilient organization. Because how you adapt individually is how an organization adapts.

Lastly, foster an environment where employees have the freedom to make decisions. Encourage empowerment. Build trust with your employees and support their self actualization and career growth by using active listening and positive regard. Train your managers in positive leadership, emphasizing transformational management that inspires and motivates employees.

I recommend leveraging the PERMA model (Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment) for leadership training. Using the positive psychology approach, it promotes work-life balance, and mindfulness, and encourages a people-centered approach. Which, of course, is the bedrock to a resilient organization.

Many people might see these concepts as ‘soft’ with everything that’s going on. But they’re key ways to work toward building resilience and increasing productivity. Looking at each approach—working with your executive team to implement inclusive policies and change (or enact) a healthy culture—toward building a resilient organization can feel overwhelming, if not impossible.

So, start simple. Begin by looking at your employee handbook. Is it inclusive of everybody? If not, take notes of what can change more immediately, or what can shift in the next year and beyond, using incremental steps.

Consider targeting your promotion season, when you can analyze your pay equity, and introduce a strengths-based coaching program. Need to convince your executive team? Check out our previous blog post for some ideas for how to proceed. Begin talking with your managers about how to instill a growth-mindset among their team members, and the importance of failing.

These are all really small ways to help individuals and organizations build resilience, and have the capacity to be able to advocate for change. Individuals, whether they are minority, LGBTQ+, and other under-represented groups (in light of current government regulations and conversations that are going on), have the power in themselves and at the organizational level to enact big change, one step at a time. And that includes you. 

Ready for more?

More resources I love for resilience:

* Check out Positive Psychology at Work: How Positive Leadership and Appreciative Inquiry Create Inspiring Organizations by Sarah Lewis for practical, real world strategies to build resilient organizations using the PERMA model.

* Read Grit by Angela Duckworth on how to stick with your goals through setbacks and keep your motivation.

* Reflect on Resilient by Rick Hanson to help develop your grit, gratitude and compassion.

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