Work related stress is a very real problem in UK workplaces. It can lead to physical and emotional exhaustion which can easily influence a person’s physical and mental health. When you put too much pressure on yourself or your employees, you make it very hard to achieve success and for everyone to make a positive impact.
Here we look at some ways to build resilience in you and your team, so that your workplace is one that creates team leaders and people who can rise to the occasion when situations arrive that are stressful. Avoiding stress at work isn’t really possible – it’s always going to come – but there are things you can do to make experiencing stress that much easier and ensure that you and others never give up when the going gets tough.
Below we’ll take a look at why building resilience in the workplace is so important, how to ensure teams are equipped for challenges at work, and provide some of the best ways to ensure you never give up at work.
Why resilience is so important at work
It’s important that you, as business owner, your managers, team leaders, and every employee recognise that building resilience is the single best way to relieve stress and find motivation at work. For anybody to do their job correctly, you have to have the skills to navigate stressful situations. Without it, you will fail.
And building resilience isn’t as difficult as it sounds. It’s your job to ensure your employees feel your support and understand that you’re in it with them. If an employee feels the business leaders are standing alongside them during stressful events, then they’re much less likely to shoulder the burden alone.
Being the kind of leader that’s open to your workers and their concerns is crucial. If they can share their reasons for being stressed with you, then you can offer them the support they need.
Avoiding physical health problems
Often it’s mental health that receives the most focus when it comes to the impact of stress at work, but it can have very real physical impacts on your health too.
Stress can lead to a number of short and long term issues including headaches, stomach issues, breathing problems, muscle pain and discomfort, cardiovascular problems, skin rashes and hives and more. Some are obviously more concerning than others, but they’re all very real risks of working in a stressful environment without the proper support and skills in resilience to combat that stress. By working out how to never give up at work and manage stress, you reduce the physical risks to your health.
Avoiding mental health problems
Stress can also affect how you and your staff feel mentally and emotionally, not just physically. Relentless stress without resilience can lead to a variety of mental health issues that can have a very real impact on workers and their attitude towards their work. It’s important that you make mental health and resilience to stress a real focus at your workplace.
Without it, workers could face the following issues:
- irritability
- difficulty sleeping
- concentration issues
- anxiety
- depression
What resilience brings to the workplace
Mental and physical health concerns are real. An employer who cultivates a resilient mindset by focusing on goals, perseverance and seeking or providing support will benefit from a workforce that is motivated and committed. With a good work environment and supportive network where ideas are encouraged, employees will be less fearful of making mistakes and therefore more inclined to keep at it to ensure the best results.
So what are some of the key methods to help build resilience in the workplace? Here we present some ideas that are often applicable to both employers and their employees to help them remain focused and avoid giving up at work.
Ways to avoid giving up at work
1. Have The Right Mindset:
- Focus on progress: Try not to focus on the overall task or end goal at hand, instead shifting focus on small goals along the way to ensure that you are not overwhelmed and are able to focus with a positive mindset on each step toward success.
- Learn from failures: Don’t be afraid of failures, but instead learn from them so that you come to view setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow, rather than being a reason to quit. Take inspiration from the quote from writer Eloise Ristad: “When we give ourselves permission to fail, we, at the same time, give ourselves permission to excel.”
- Experiment to find solutions : Embrace new approaches and strategies if whatever you are trying isn’t working. Sometimes the only way to overcome obstacles is to try something new rather than repeating the same tired old mistakes.
2. Set Realistic Goals
- SMART goals: Establish goals based on the SMART acronym (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) to ensure that goals are well-defined, trackable, realistic, have a purpose, and are within a specified timeframe.
- Break Down Tasks: Often overwhelming projects should be broken down into much smaller and manageable chunks so that they appear less daunting. Setting progress milestones will help keep you on track and prevent the enormity of the overall task causing task paralysis or even quitting.
- Track Progress: Monitor achievements and key milestones along the way to acknowledge the progress that has been achieved and help you feel energised and motivated. This will help you see the bigger picture and how far you’ve come.
3. Reward Success
- Celebrate success: Success, whether personal or shared, should be acknowledged and rewarded. This could be in the form of small treats, activities, or even bonus payments for each milestone or target that has been reached within the planned timescale.
- Time out: Upon completion with key projects, it is important to take time out and allow others to take time out. While bonuses and other incentives can motivate people, others may be more incentivised by the opportunity to have time out and reflect upon what has been achieved.
4. Build A Supportive Environment:
- Connections are key: Seek out people in your industry who can offer you advice, encouragement and positivity. Mentors, business consultants, industry experts and online communities are just some of the avenues where you can find supportive connections.
- Communicate openly: Be open about sharing some of the challenges you face. Trust people like your business partners, boss, trusted colleagues or employees, with any difficulties you’re facing and a solution may often be found or at least your load lightened a little.
- Revitalise your workday: Don’t just focus on work in your workday but instead try to incorporate elements that will help you find joy in your work day and boost your energy and motivation. Including a morning gym or yoga session, going for a lunchtime walk, doing activities with colleagues, can all contribute to providing a positive stress-relieving element to your work day.
5. Rediscover Your Purpose:
- Your motivation: Think about what you do and why you do it? If you set up your own business or you are following a chosen career path, what is it that you are hoping to achieve? Re-establishing your goals and motivations, and realising that your contribution is valuable, is all helpful to provide a focus and a sense of self-worth.
- Visualise success: Consider what success would look like for you. Picture yourself reaching your goals, whether personal or wider in context, and take motivation from the potential positive outcomes from your work efforts.
- Get inspired: Give yourself a boost and find some inspiration and ideas from inspirational sources. Read books from entrepreneurs or inspiring people or watch movies with people who have overcome huge challenges on the way to completing their goals.
6. Develop Resilience:
- Practice resilience: Develop your ability to bounce back from challenges, setbacks and stressful situations. With a focus on finding solutions, rather than dwelling on what could go wrong or already has done, you’ll develop a more positive outlook and be much more productive as a result.
- Manage stress: Embracing new methods to manage stress, such as mindfulness techniques or exercise, is of high importance to give you greater control over your response to stressful situations. While you may not be able to control other people’s moods, you can certainly make an impact on your own.
- Take breaks: Recognise the signs of stress and learn when to step away from work when you need to. Taking regular breaks, keeping lunch times work-free, designating certain hours as ‘you’ time, and setting boundaries to not be taking work home with you frequently, can all help you recharge and return to the task in hand with a renewed focus.
