Growing and improving an organisation is always a challenge, and in 2023, additional obstacles have emerged. These include supply chain shortages, energy price fluctuations, inflation, digital transformation, remote work, sustainability, and cybersecurity. To successfully navigate these external factors while achieving organic growth and expansion through acquisitions, businesses must ensure that their employees are equipped to cope and thrive in a constantly changing environment.
Organisations should aim to cultivate supportive, resilient, and innovative cultures where employees can adapt to change, maintain a positive attitude, and overcome challenges to achieve common goals.
“Resilience and adaptability are the workplace superpowers”, says Taryn Wilkinson, director of Walmsley Wilkinson Executive and Management Recruitment. “The clients that we support can range from growth focused, small to medium sized enterprises, through to global corporations, but there is always a common theme when it comes to identifying the right attitudes in their people. Organisations are operating in competitive, demanding and developing marketplaces and they therefore want to hire future employees that can perform their roles, whilst remaining well and excelling in changing environments. Most person specifications that we encounter in the recruitment process include resilience and adaptability amongst the essential criteria. Candidates that can demonstrate strengths in these areas are therefore more in demand.”
A report by Aon titled “The Rising Resilient” revealed that employees are nearly twice as likely to be motivated and, therefore, productive if they possess resilience. This explains why employers value resilience highly. However, the same research also found that only 30% of employees are currently considered resilient. This highlights the risks and challenges organizations face when trying to drive change and growth while a majority of their employees may struggle to cope with these demands.
In a 2021 report titled “Employee Resilience: An Evidence Review Summary,” commissioned by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, it is stated that resilience helps employees safeguard and replenish their personal resources at work, protecting them from issues such as psychological distress, emotional exhaustion, and burnout.
Taryn Wilkinson adds, “Whilst people managers and defined learning and development strategies play a crucial role in helping employees to be resilient in the workplace, it is totally understandable why organisations want to identify future employees who can demonstrate that they already possess ‘resilience superpowers.’ These individuals will be able to cope, adapt and thrive in changing work circumstances.”
Amid ongoing disruptions in the world of work, achieving success in challenging times requires resilient and adaptable employees. The UK’s future prosperity hinges on having a workforce that possesses these crucial qualities.
Walmsley Wilkinson, owned by partners Linda Walmsley and Taryn Wilkinson, provides professional solutions for executive and management recruitment needs. They assist various organisations, including large corporations, family-owned businesses, private equity firms, and the third sector, in identifying and securing top leadership talent across the UK and internationally.
For more information, visit https://www.walmsleywilkinson.com.
