This informal CPD article on Resilience in the Face of the Covid-19 Storm was provided by Lianne Weaver of Beam Development and Training, a provider of courses designed to help employers and employees take responsibility for their wellbeing.
This year has certainly turned out to be a rollercoaster.
The Covid-19 pandemic has turned our lives upside down – and it’s far from over yet. With England in a second lockdown, and varying restrictions in place across the rest of the UK, we know we are still very much in the eye of the storm. We’ve got used to hearing that we are “all in the same boat”. But I think that analogy is unhelpful. The last eight months have impacted people in so many different ways, so I think it’s more helpful to think of it as all being in the same storm, but in very different boats.
The struggles brought about by the pandemic, lockdowns and different restrictions on daily life can manifest in many different ways. For some people it has caused health anxiety. For others, it’s brought financial worries. For others it’s caused pressure on family life.
When we go through a life changing situation, usually it just affects our immediate circle. If, for example, you’re going through redundancy, or bereavement, it would affect you and your immediate circle. In this situation your brain gets some comfort and reassurance from knowing the world is still carrying on as normal. The brain also goes through past memories to see how we’ve dealt with a similar situation before. If we have never experienced something like this, it will look to people around us to see how they’ve dealt with something similar.
But this year our world has been turned on its head. There’s been no comfort from looking into the external world because that’s also been turned on its head.
Coping with the Covid-19 storm
As the storm continues to rage around us, we need to do all we can to equip employees and colleagues with the resources to deal with whatever difficulties the situation brings. We really need to help them – and ourselves – to develop resilience.
Resilience is something that we only really know we’ve got when the pressure is on. Resilience is finding whatever it takes to carry on when we’ve had a challenge, a knock, or a set-back. It’s not something we either have or we don’t have. The good news is that it’s something we can work on and develop. As leaders in the workplace, it’s imperative that we equip our teams with the skills to develop their resilience, as it plays such a central role in our overall wellbeing. And now of course, it’s more important than ever, as we face an undefined period of extreme challenge.
Tools and techniques
Resilience is such a key component in staying healthy that it pays to consider investing in formal training for your teams. As a starting point, here are some tools which leaders can use immediately and should be sure to use on an ongoing basis:
Our most important need when recovering from a knock or coping with a challenge is our connection to others. We are community animals – we don’t do well entirely on our own. A setback or ongoing adversity may make us want to shut ourselves away but, even if you are the type who likes to shut yourself away to process something, it’s important to reach out to family, friends, colleagues or a professional afterwards. In short, we need to build and maintain a strong network.
Encourage colleagues to identify whether their go-to coping mechanisms are helping or exacerbating the problem. Common external coping tactics can include alcohol, food, smoking or shopping. But these can often trigger feelings of guilt on top of the original problem. More effective coping mechanisms are those which are internal, such as talking to a friend, going for a walk, meditating, or sleeping.
Talk about compassion. Team-mates will often support one another if they are facing tough times – but are they as kind to themselves? Encourage colleagues to acknowledge how they are feeling and to take the time they need for recovery from whatever has happened.
We hope this article was helpful. For more information from Beam Development and Training, please visit their CPD Member Directory page. Alternatively please visit the CPD Industry Hubs for more CPD articles, courses and events relevant to your Continuing Professional Development requirements.
