Employees are more motivated than they were four years ago but it’s coming at a cost according to new research from The Resilience Institute.
Analysis of over 16,000 reports measuring factors in Resilience between 2011 and 2014 have shown that the number of people who find their jobs highly motivating has increased. While this is great news for employers, HR managers and organisations as a whole, employees are becoming less resilient.
“Over the last four years there has been a negative trend across the key resilience indicators of physical and mental wellbeing,” says Dr Sven Hansen, founder of The Resilience Institute.
“Generally people are feeling less aligned with their highest values, they have an overwhelming sense of confusion, and their food choices and sleep quality are suffering. The data is also showing us that people are more worried about the future,” he adds.
The research, which was undertaken by Datamine, showed that taking care of ourselves physically through good nutrition, regular exercise and quality sleep had the biggest impact on levels of resilience.
“When people are highly motivated and engaged at work they can get caught up in a continuous cycle of working long hours with little or no breaks,” says Dr Hansen. “We know that this reduces productivity and undermines individual resilience.
“Embedding sleep discipline, exercise, smart breaks and good nutrition secures bounce back and sustainable performance at individual and organisational levels.”
Dr Hansen believes that organisations must balance the pressure to squeeze out productivity with investment in the personal skills of resilience.
Unsurprisingly The Resilience Institute’s research also showed that symptoms of depression had a strong correlation with low levels of resilience.
“Depression has huge implications on any organisation’s bottom line with absenteeism and loss of productivity,” says Hansen. “With data suggesting that 1 in 5 people may suffer from depression, it is clear that organisations seeking to sustain productive, engaged people must invest in building resilience.”
