Understanding Resilience and Adaptability
Keep calm and carry on.
A few years back, this message had what today we’d say was a viral moment. It appeared on mugs, totes and just about anything else you could think of. And while it might seem relatively innocuous and a quaint throwback to a time of great strife, it’s ultimately very reductive.
Increasingly, we are becoming aware that reliance and adaptability are rather more complex to build and maintain. All too often, many organizations continue to assume that their employees have both of these traits in abundance and that, in addition, those who possess them will stand as role models and influencers, ready to spread their knowledge and inherent capabilities throughout the company.
However, in doing so, we vastly underestimate what is expected and the reality that an individual’s resilience might not be enough to address the considerable needs of employees, particularly those in the Trust and Safety industry.
Consequently, this leads to burnout and other mental health issues. Today’s workforce faces many challenges:
- High volume workloads
- Resourcing shortages
- Lack of autonomy
- Challenging team dynamics.
Together, these contribute to decreased resilience and adaptability. This might explain why a recent SAS survey of senior executives uncovered a “resiliency gap,” with 97% of executives saying they believe resilience is important but only 47% perceiving their company as resilient.
But what actions you take to redress this imbalance, and in fairness, many companies actively undertake and implement employee wellbeing programmes, will depend on how you define resilience and adaptability.
What Does Resilience Mean?
According to Merriam-Webster, resilience is “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change”, while adaptability means “to make fit (as for a new use) often by modification” (2024).
In other words, they are very similar and, more often than not, go hand in hand. In the workforce, this means that when faced with uncertainty, new and unsettling information, or threats, we can pivot, go with the (new) flow and adapt to a different way of working.
A real-world example of this, which is unfortunately becoming a bigger problem now that everyone has access to generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, is the alarming number of videos produced with AI to generate novel images of minor sexual content. In response, platforms have been working hard to catch up by updating policies, focusing more on AI training, engaging in more red teaming exercises, and increasing their human moderator workforces.
This is a reasonable and appropriate response, but it still means that these content moderators are exposed to such content, playing catch-up with the changing legislation and needing to implement additional safeguards.
All of which puts even more pressure on these teams to cope. They are required to remain resilient in the face of these changes, keep up with emerging threats, leverage existing knowledge to implement additional safeguards to protect users and cope with increased volumes of egregious content.
How to Create a Culture of Resilience
#1 Foster collaboration
So, how do you develop and promote resilience and adaptability?
For starters, establish the mindset that the organization is one team. Create an environment where teamwork and cross-functional collaboration are valued. When people work together effectively, they can respond more quickly and creatively to challenges.
Leadership must also take an active role. Leaders should model resilience by staying calm under pressure, making informed decisions, and supporting their teams during difficult times.
Promote a culture of flexibility and openness to change at all organizational levels. Employees should feel empowered to innovate and adapt to new circumstances.
#2 Fail to prepare. Prepare to fail
Establishing and maintaining a resilient and adaptable culture takes planning. List potential risks and draft how best to respond and support your employees. Identify vulnerabilities to ensure your framework/guidelines anticipate and provide a solution.
Part of this process should involve speaking with current employees to hear about their concerns or worries and the “what ifs” situations on their minds so that you are seen as proactive rather than reactive.
In some organizations, I suggest having a Business Continuity Plan(BCP). This provides a very structured response to how you will help your teams should they need it when a disruption occurs. Be sure to include in the BCP how your organization will navigate the event and what employees can expect regarding support and solutions depending on the type of crisis.
#3 Educate to Empower
Expecting your employees to handle everything thrown their way is a mistake, but when those employees operate in the T &S sector, it can be a very costly one. Resilience can and should be taught so ensure that these employees receive training in:
- Stress management
- Emotional intelligence
- Crises response.
The knowledge and understanding this training will provide will help build each individual’s defences and personal resilience.
Equally essential to empowering your T&S teams is that they have some ownership over decision-making. Having some control over not only your actions but also a company’s stance on complex and disturbing issues like MSC will contribute to a feeling of empowerment, which in turn can help nurture a greater sense of adaptability and control over a situation.
#4 Prioritise Open Communication
Sometimes, people feel overwhelmed because they have no one they feel they can talk to or express their upset. That’s why it is imperative that people working in the T&S sector always feel they have a way to communicate with other team members, leadership, or external professionals.
I recommend taking this a step further and establishing a crisis communication plan that covers everything from who to bring concerns to, what actions employees can expect from management, and, importantly, offers guidelines for them regarding expectations and support.
Nurturing an open and safe community is key to building resilience. It offers a feeling of safety akin to having a harness on when rock climbing so that you know if you fall, someone has “got your back.” The knowledge that you are protected and not alone is fundamental to developing a way to handle the stresses and emotional burdens that come with the job.
#5 Building Resilience is an Ongoing Process
“Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” Angela Duckworth
Transforming your organizational culture does not happen overnight, and it is not a one-and-done check-box activity. Having this mindset will only set you and your employees up for failure.
Instead, it is an evolution that takes time, investment, and continuous review and change.
It’s about getting employee feedback, being aware of current and new trends in health and safety, and then reviewing current practices to see where you can improve.
Several key performance indicators (KPIs) can also be tracked to assess the effectiveness of your employees and your programme. These might vary depending on your organization, but I would track response times, recovery times, and employee turnover and retention.
Nothing teaches like experience.
When something occurs in your team or organization, be sure to review and assess how well it was handled and what could be done differently in the future.
Conclusion
Some people are inherently more resilient than others. However, building and maintaining a resilient and adaptable team is about taking a proactive and structured approach to developing a culture within your organization that ensures everyone, regardless of whether they were born with it, can withstand the stresses and possesses the strength to be flexible so that they do not succumb to burnout and other mental health issues.
