The issue of developing and maintaining a resilient workforce is still in the HR spotlight and I read an interesting article recently on this topic which really hit some of the key issues.
Resilience is not just something that is required at work; it’s a life skill that can be developed through self-insight and used productively in many different situations; it certainly should not be viewed as just another HR ‘buzzword.’ It was encouraging to see some of the comments and interviews in this article and the number of organisations taking resilience seriously is a clear indication that it is viewed as an important HR issue. Where there is perhaps a challenge for organisations is how an individual’s level of resilience is measured.
The Resilience Questionnaire™
In order to address this issue a&dc have developed a Resilience Questionnaire™ which focuses on the aspects of an individual’s patterns of thinking, preferences and behaviour that affect their ability to respond positively to setbacks and challenges. The tool has a developmental focus, providing information about how each component of an individual’s ‘resilience profile’ can be developed, as opposed to assessing whether an individual is resilient or not.
The online questionnaire covers eight components of resilience, which have been identified through extensive research:
– Self belief
– Optimism
– Purposeful direction
– Adaptability
– Ingenuity
– Challenge orientation
– Emotion regulation
– Support seeking
The feedback from the questionnaire then provides participants with a summary of their results covering the eight components of resilience, together with options on how to develop each one. Individuals’ responses to the questionnaire are placed in the context of a comparison group, allowing respondents to understand how their levels of resilience compare with other people who have completed the test previously.
The benefit of this Resilience Questionnaire is that it can be integrated into a range of talent management activities including coaching, self-development workshops, and blended learning all aimed at helping participants to cope with stress and change.
Maximising the results
It’s important to make sure there is continued activity when it comes to developing resilience and the recommended next step from this questionnaire is setting a plan in place, which can be supported by The Resilience Workbook™ and/or The Resilience Workshop™ to give delegates further understanding of their resilience profile.
In order to develop the in-house capability for administering, interpreting and providing feedback on the questionnaire, a&dc’s training course provides existing test users with the information and experience required. The course covers:
– An overview of the development of the Resilience Questionnaire
– Using the Resilience Questionnaire
– Interpreting the results
– Giving individual feedback
As resilience remains on the HR agenda, a&dc are continuing to focus on helping organisations tackle this issue. We have a training course coming up on Thursday 19th July and will be offering a free webinar at the end of the month. To register or to find out more information visit http://www.adc.uk.com/page.aspx/33/News/100
