Employers have been utilizing wellness program to help their employees live up to their full potential for decades. Whether these programs teach healthy eating, the value of the physical activity or simple stress reduction techniques, the goal is the same.
Now some companies are beginning to realize the importance of resilience for both their and their employee's well-being. Resilience is the ability to pull through after a challenge or stumbling block, and according to a TED talk given by Angela Lee Duckworth, is a better indicator of success than IQ.
Even more surprising is a paper written by researchers from the University of Western Sydney and published in the Journal of Advance Nursing showing that resilience can boost employee health and wellness. A 2015 survey from Buck Consultants shows 22 percent of employers already have a resilience program, and another 28 percent are planning to offer one.
These programs, offered by groups as disparate as militaries and school districts, is part of an effort known as Positive Psychology - which aims to use psychology to create a more satisfactory life rather than treat mental illness. This movement is based on increasing positive emotions, reducing negative emotions by dealing with them properly and ultimately thriving in spite of challenges.
Some of the lessons of the program include developing rituals to detach personal and private lives - like hiding away your nametag and parking decal once you get out of work - along with basic coaching and stress reduction education. Royal Dutch Shell began their resilience program five years ago, and now offers it to employees in 50 countries.
They noted that it "seems capable of enabling a sustained change" and they have scientific evidence to support them. An article in American College of Sports Medicine's Health & Fitness Journal earlier in the year demonstrated that beneficial effects of resiliency training lasted a year after their one-hour session. With results like that, it is safe to say the resiliency training is resilient enough to be a major benefit to employers and employees alike.
