Team resilience and staff wellbeing in the workplace

What comes after the pandemic?

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced an enormous number of changes on the way we all live and work within a very short time. It hasn’t been easy and a full economic and social recovery may take years. But for many individuals and workplaces, the lockdown also provides an opportunity to review the way they work and reassess their options for when things get back to some sort of normality.

Many businesses have been impacted by the lockdown, and had to adapt quickly to providing services in a different way. The pressures of working under extraordinary circumstances can take their toll on staff and it’s important to think about their resilience and wellbeing at times like these.

There are lots of small things you can do as a business to maintain staff wellbeing

1) Say thank you for a job well done, regularly

As a business owner or manager, one of the most effective things you can do to improve the wellbeing and resilience of your staff is to regularly show your appreciation for their work. It sounds simple but it makes a huge difference – even if you only spend a few minutes at the start of team meetings, highlighting four or five positive things that have happened since the previous meeting. And if a staff member isn’t happy about their progress in a certain area, focus on the positive – remind them how much they have achieved, rather than commiserate over what they haven’t.

2) Think about what could be done differently next time, rather than who was at fault

Of course, problems are going to crop up from time to time. One approach to dealing with these situations is to try to depersonalise it. Rather than apportioning blame to an individual, it is a good idea to step back and see whether the problem could be a fault in the systems and processes you have, or whether a similar problem in future could be avoided by tweaking your processes.

3) Communicate often, and remember it’s a two-way street

It’s also important to communicate well with your staff and regularly ask them how they’re getting on and whether they need help with anything. Hopefully, this will help your staff feel comfortable to speak up when things are getting difficult, allowing you to head off problems before they become insurmountable. In return, you need to ensure your staff know what you expect of them. Provide clear position descriptions with expected outcomes, give them achievable goals and make sure they have the resources required to attain them.

Resilient staff take their lead from resilient managers

Good leadership is a key factor in building resilient teams. Team leaders and managers need to be strong and committed to getting the job done but also be open, honest and compassionate in their dealings with their teams. When your business is going through challenging times, it’s important to remember that it’s tough on everyone, and your staff will only be able to do their jobs well if they’re feeling confident in themselves and the business.

Ultimately, their mental health and wellbeing is something staff need to take responsibility for but a well-timed word or thoughtful gesture from their manager can do wonders. At the very least, you need to be aware that your staff deal with stress in different ways and may need extra support at work. This may include directing them to the appropriate agencies where mental health support is available.

From a business perspective, your business also needs to be set up in such a way to have the management structure and financial strength to survive setbacks. This can be achieved by thorough planning and risk assessment.  All businesses should undertake a regular budgeting and planning process, have a business continuity plan and review insurances covers to make sure all contingencies are covered should the worst case scenario eventuate.

MAS has lots of resources that can help you improve the wellbeing and resilience of your staff

A good place to start is the MAS Wellbeing Portal, which we have launched in collaboration with Synergy Health to help our Members get through these difficult times.

This online resource centre is free for Members and their families, and it provides tools and simple, pragmatic advice about how to improve your physical health, along with your nutritional, mental, and financial wellbeing.

It’s also worth remembering that MAS offers its Members three free counselling sessions through EAP Services, an independent counselling service. The counselling is available 24/7 and EAP Services can work with you remotely, if you would prefer not to go into one of their offices.

This service is completely free to Members. All you need to do is mention you are with MAS, and EAP Services will invoice us directly. Your privacy is guaranteed – we do not receive any information about which Members have used the service.

To make an appointment call EAP Services directly on 0800 327 669 or visit eapservices.co.nz.