6 min read | 14 May, 2020 By Nick Hardy
We recently co-hosted a 'chatinar' with people engagement expert, Steve Stark who talked with our CEO, Jonathan Richards, about ways in which businesses can help their people maintain their resilience during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
It was a fascinating discussion which explored resilience as part of the wider topic of employee mental health and wellbeing.
Steve is the founder and director of Then Somehow and he and his team have helped businesses of every size, including Nokia and Channel 4 become more productive.
He specialises in helping organisations work well by focusing on developing positive cultures which unify teams and bring out the best in people.
In this post, we are examining some of Steve's ideas and established best practises for developing resilient team members who are able to weather the current storm.
Although six weeks into the COVID-19 lockdown, many people have successfully adapted to remote working practises and are collaborating effectively with their colleagues, there are many who are struggling and need a great level of support from their managers.
We are all processing day-to-day and ongoing developments differently. This means that inevitably, some people are more vulnerable than others.
Steve made the point that employers must do everything they can to identify their most vulnerable team members and focus on helping them develop their resilience and stay buoyant.
Encouraging a safe space for people to talk openly about their thoughts, feelings and challenges is undoubtedly harder at the moment than it was before the current crisis began.
That said, there are steps business leaders can take to nurture organisational culture, unite confidence in teams and, in turn, help foster individual and collective resilience.
Culture and resilience are inseparable.
Our use of communications technology is central to keeping people connected and feeling part of the bigger picture.
But this has to be part of a wider focus on cultural development and maintaining the values and purpose of a company and its people.
Our recently published 2020 Culture Economy Report examined the issue in depth, drawing off industry expertise and small business commentary.
Although their stories pre-date the current crises, the lessons remain applicable to the here and now and building resilience across a dispersed workforce.
Although this sounds easier said than done in current circumstances, there are steps every organisation can take to improve their culture and as a result, the wellbeing and resilience of their people.
Consider these:
Learn more about how to manage mental health at work and listen to our podcast with Mind expert, Mike Ellen. Listen to The People Project Podcast | Episode 1.
Our friends at Yulife created an app that helps encourage your team to get up and out of their seats and walking in nature. It's a nifty piece of kit that syncs health data within minutes to help keep track of wellbeing. Users earn points for every step and - just like our refer a friend offer - points mean prizes.
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