Having to give a subordinate bad news can be hard. Hearing bad news is hard too. Some employees are resilient. They accept bad news, process it, and bounce back or move beyond it. Other people have poor resilience. They don’t accept bad news well, and it can make them unable to cope. How do you know if someone on your staff has poor
resilience? Psychologists have identified these five signs of poor resilience:
- Irritability and Overreaction
- Dwelling on Problems
- Trouble Sleeping
- Persistent Illness
- Substance Abuse
1. Irritability and Overreaction
Poor resilience is often characterized by irritability and overreaction. Workers who let small discomforts and minor annoyances make them upset and irritable are not coping well with on-the-job stresses. Resilient personnel on the other hand manage stress and focus their attention on what they can control and change. People with poor resilience aren’t in control of themselves and don’t believe they can make positive changes, so they become irritable whenever life gets stressful.
Overreaction is part of the irritability of poor resilience. Instead of taking the time to think the situation through and finding a way to overcome a challenge, employees with poor resilience often yell, slam doors, threaten, and over-dramatize situations. Because they don’t understand how to control themselves and make positive changes, they overact, usually by blaming others. I’m sure we’ve all known or worked with someone like this.
2. Dwelling on Problems
Another sign of poor resilience is dwelling on or losing sleep over work problems. Does someone on your team always have something negative to say about their position or the task they’ve been given? No matter how exciting, interesting, or well-paid their job or their situation, people with poor resilience will find something negative about it. They will often dismiss stable or smooth work conditions by considering them temporary and focusing on past problems or worrying about future ones.
Workers with poor resilience use their time to focus on what they feel is unfair or wrong in their environment instead of using their energy to make positive changes. When faced with a challenge, they respond by assuming it’s just another problem they can’t overcome. You may see signs of poor resilience in staff when they continually list their faults or the faults of others, use past failures as excuses for their present circumstances, and always have something negative to say. These types can be absolutely horrible to be around or to manage. You probably cringe when one of these type workers approaches you.
3. Trouble Sleeping
Poor resilience often leads to trouble sleeping. While there are physical reasons a person may have trouble sleeping, poor resilience is a mental and emotional reaction to stress on the job or just in their life. Workers with poor resilience may be unable to sleep because they are worried about their situation, the reactions of others, or future challenges they may face.
4. Persistent Illness
Are any of your company’s or your work team frequently out sick? Or do they leave work early because they’re not feeling well? The stress associated with poor resilience can harm a person’s body and physical health. Because employees with poor resilience hold onto stresses instead of processing them in healthy ways, they risk long-term health complications like depression, heart disease, and stomach problems.
When people don’t respond well to stress, it raises their levels of inflammation and hormones like adrenaline, norepinephrine, and cortisol. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic have identified that elevated hormones cause damage to a person’s immune system. Stress hormones weaken a person’s immune system and make them more susceptible to COVID-19 or persistent illnesses like colds and the flu. Elevated levels of stress hormones can also damage blood vessels and other body systems, leading to chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes.
5. Substance Abuse
Poor resilience can lead to low self-esteem and a feeling of lack of control, chronic illness, inflammation, and pain, and depression. Workers with poor resilience may try and hide these feelings or relieve the symptoms by using alcohol and other drugs. Substance abuse often begins when people try and escape how they feel.
Poor resilience can lead to poor work habits, inability to complete tasks on time or to get along with peers or worse: personality issues, chronic illness, and substance abuse. Recognizing the signs of poor resilience is the first step in identifying workplace issues and to help employees to make positive changes to improve their performance.
Need Assistance Hiring Resilient Workers
If you need some assistance in recruiting and hiring more resilient workers in this uncertain labor market, contact Flexicrew Today.