FM CAREERS - TRAINING
JULY 2020 53
Resilience is a term that can get
thrown around to the point
we forget what it truly means.
It is in fact ‘an ability to recover
from or adjust easily to misfortune
or change’. If there’s one positive to
come out of the COVID-19 pandemic,
it’s that we’ve all seen resilience like
never before. As a business leader,
the resilience that I have witnessed
among my team is nothing short of
astonishing.
Of course, there have been tough
days. But if one team member is having
a di icult time, there are numerous
others ready to step up and help,
whether that’s by taking on extra
work or taking the time to have a
conversation.
Resilience isn’t something that
just happens – it takes time and is
underpinned by a handful of core
attributes. From my experience, the four
essentials are trust, bravery, loyalty and
communication.
Resilience through leadership
Building a resilient team requires
likeminded leadership. Business
leaders have encountered the ultimate
test of leadership in recent months and
have been faced with extremely di icult
decisions. The key challenge for many
has been deciding where the balance
lies between protecting the business
and the employees. At times it can feel
impossible to do both, as payroll is
the biggest cost for knowledge-based
businesses.
The Government furlough scheme
has helped but not enough to dispel the
anxiety and uncertainty that comes with
what is essentially a stop-gap measure.
Resilience among furloughed sta is
just as important for those still working
and leaders have a duty to ensure that
they instil it across their teams.
At the outset of the lockdown I
worked tirelessly with my senior
management team to devise a
strategy that would keep the business
running. This was made all the more
complicated by there being so many
unknown factors.
We developed a plan that I felt
confident with but I wanted every one
of my colleagues to know that their
input mattered. So, instead of telling
people what our strategy was, I reached
out to everyone within the organisation
to explain our plans and asked if they
supported the change – this was even
before the Government had announced
the furlough scheme.
The feedback was positive across the
board. Everyone was supportive and
o ered to do what it took to ensure
that the business could survive the
pandemic. The value of involving
employees in decisions so crucial to
the future of the company cannot be
understated and has certainly played a
huge role in the amazing resilience that
I’ve seen.
Engage and empower
Businesses up and down the country
have been asking employees to take
on new roles and responsibilities,
o en in challenging working settings.
The sudden shi to remote working
has seen thousands working without
the ideal IT and furniture set up, and
sharing it with partners and children
who are also at home.
By demonstrating an understanding
of the di erent challenges each team
member faces, business leaders can
give their employees the freedom to
find a routine that suits them. The result
will be a team that is proactive, positive
and driven.
Positivity is a huge driver of resilience.
People feed o of each other’s energy
and a positive attitude is arguably
even more important during a crisis.
Businesses are having to make tough
decisions at short notice. Employees
taking on new roles are going to
experience bumps in the road. Mistakes
will be made by us all. That’s part and
parcel of business.
The important thing is that we learn
from our mistakes, both individually
and as a team, and don’t let them get
us down. Part of resilience is the ability
to keep going whatever life throws at
you, and a positive attitude goes handin
hand.
Inspiring loyalty
Like trust, loyalty takes times to develop
and it’s a two-way street. As well as
explaining what decisions are being
taken, business leaders need to explain
the rationales behind any proposed
changes. And if a decision changes or
doesn’t happen, this also needs to be
communicated. Employees must be
shown that the impact on them is being
considered every step of the way, and
that ultimately any decisions to protect
the business have the dual goal of
protecting everyone’s job.
At the heart of everything is
communication. Leaders need to set
the tone by being honest, open and
non-judgemental. At the same time,
they must be completely open to
feedback and criticism. Being able
to adapt to feedback is a powerful
attribute that does not go unnoticed by
employees. Doing so will demonstrate
that it is ok for everyone to be open and
honest, which will benefit the business.
Set up for future success
There are plenty of resilience training
courses but it may be some time before
most businesses can fully ramp up
their training budgets again. Personally,
I don’t believe that anything can
replicate the real-world experience and
if nothing else, so many of us will come
out of this with a level of resilience we
didn’t even know we had.
The resilient teams will not only get
through this crisis, but they’ll be so
much stronger too.
The four key components of a
resilient team:
Trust – give employees the freedom
to work in a way that suits them;
trust yourself when making di icult
decisions.
Loyalty – explain the reasons behind
decisions; involve employees in key
business decisions.
Bravery – try new things and don’t
be afraid of failure.
Communication – open, honest,
non-judgemental and able to accept
feedback and criticism.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Rachel Houghton, Managing Director, Business Moves Group on how training,
development and leadership can help build a resilient team