Building resilience

Use personality insights to build individual and organisational resilience, and help people manage workplace stress

Workplace stress can be something of an elephant in the room. Whilst its negative effects can be destructive, sweeping it under the carpet is all too common. But with the right approach to stress management, organisations can create a resilient work environment and employees can learn to maximise productivity.

What is the impact of stress?

Stress affects people in different ways. The Myers-Briggs Company research shows that up to 70% of employees report experiencing stress in their working lives, with more than a fifth of workers regularly thinking of quitting their job. This affects personal health, organisational retention rates and general job performance. However, the way this stress is experienced will be different for each individual, depending on their personality. To prevent stress from having a negative impact on productivity and wellbeing, it is important to understand how someone’s personality affects stress triggers and stress reactions for them.

How to build resilience and boost performance

At high levels stress will have negative consequences. However a degree of pressure and challenge at work is essential to maintain performance and motivation. Roles with too little challenge are boring and under-motivating, whereas the presence of too much pressure in the workplace causes distress and impedes performance. Often, an individual’s most memorable and developmental experiences are where they are challenged to move outside their comfort zone.

The negative consequences of stress have been shown to decrease where people are supported by managers who understand them, and where people have control and autonomy over their workload. Rather than trying to eliminate stress from the workplace entirely, personality information can be used to discover individual optimal levels, and to help managers provide the right kind of support to build resilience.

Effective resilience-building delivers:

Increased performance, better results
Reduced distress and conflict, improved morale
More effective use of time and resources
Practical measures to remain resilient, even under pressure.

Our stress and resilience credentials

The Myers-Briggs Company has over 20 years’ experience helping organisations build their resilience by raising awareness of individual differences in personality. The application of this knowledge enables organisations and individuals to manage pressure without the negative consequences of stress. Our psychometric instruments are used by over half of the FTSE 100, and our consultancy team work with clients as diverse as the NHS, and the RAF to run events, exercises and activities that have a lasting impact on individual and organisational resilience.

Which tools should I use to build resilience?

MBTI® Step I and the MBTI Stress Management Report can be used to help individuals understand and manage their own stress process.
In the Grip is ideal for managers to understand not only how to manage their own stress, but also how to recognise it in others and build resilience in their team.

Many of the coaches have now put their MBTI knowledge into everyday practice, with conversations about how they are getting on in the environment and reacting to certain stressors. The training has been useful in helping recommend appropriate activities to re-energise, or to identify those things that take more effort and why, to both coaches and players in the environment.

Kate Green, National Lead – Personal Development & Welfare. England & Wales Cricket Board