The challenge of engaging Gen Z

A recent survey by the Manpower Group has revealed that 45% of UK managers intend to hire Gen Z employees over the summer but that 96% of them reported challenges when engaging workers with less than ten years in work.

To stay competitive, companies need the diverse, innovative talent that Gen Z brings but understanding and meeting their unique characteristics and expectations can be problematical. Younger workers place a high value on work/life balance and flexible working opportunities which may be difficult for organisations with more rigid work structure to meet. They are drawn to dynamic and inclusive workplace cultures that align with their own values and aspirations and expect employers to offer the latest technology and tools. However, there are also some factors that have specifically shaped Gen Z’s attitudes to work.

Gen Z witnessed the burnout suffered by many millennials and this has prompted many of them to prioritise work-life balance and higher salaries over long-term career promises. The disruption brought by the Covid-19 pandemic influenced this further when the opportunities of remote work and flexible schedules reinforced the importance of employee wellbeing. Additionally, Gen Z is entrepreneurial, confident, and tech-savvy, making them able to take advantage of online business ventures and far less tolerant of jobs and organisations that don’t meet their expectations.

So, although engaging Gen Z may be difficult, there are some steps you can take to make a job and organisation more appealing:

• Flexible Work Arrangements: Offer flexible work hours and remote work options that offer them a better work-life balance.

• Professional Development: Provide clear career paths and continuous learning opportunities to meet their expectations for growth and development.

• Adopt Latest Technology: Ensure the workplace is equipped with modern technology to attract tech-savvy candidates.

• Promote Job Stability: Communicate openly about job security and company stability to alleviate concerns about economic uncertainty.

• Demonstrate Corporate Values: Showcase genuine commitment to corporate social responsibility and ethical practices.

• Competitive Compensation: Offer competitive salaries and benefits, including non-traditional perks that cater to their overall well-being.

• Engage with Authenticity: Foster an authentic employer brand that resonates with their values and expectations.

• Streamlined Recruitment: Optimize the recruitment process for efficiency and transparency, leveraging digital tools to enhance the candidate experience.

The current job market is highly competitive, so employers need to understand and cater to Gen Z’s unique needs and preferences. By aligning company values, educating on benefits, and investing in employee development, organisations can attract, hire, and retain top Gen Z talent.

Leveraging Social Media for Employee Engagement: A Modern Approach to Workplace Culture by Edrian Blasquino

Sometimes, you wish there was a way to make your coworkers feel like they are on the same team. Social media minimises gaps between people who meet but have no time in the day or chance to interact with each other beyond the mundane “Hi, hello” in the corridor.

In this article, you will learn how it is possible to help employees communicate more with one another by creating company pages on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Why is Employee Engagement Important?

Aligning employee engagement with business goals is a big driver of organisational success. When colleagues develop feelings of togetherness, it results in positive business outcomes. Happiness produces work efficiency, and employees perform best when they are happy.

After an employee feels engaged, she or he tends to support a firm's success. They work harder to perform and innovate to do their best job, which can assist the business in expanding!

How Can Social Media Help?

Why social media, you might ask? It's simple. That is where the people are: in social networks. It is the place where they interact and transact. Social media can function as a means of communication to enhance team cohesiveness and members’ identification with the team.

It abolishes different classes and gives the chance to talk to everyone, at least in a hypothetical way. Let's explore its effectiveness:

Building a Community

One notable benefit of social media is its ability to build community. Platforms like Facebook Workplace, Yammer, or even WhatsApp can help create an environment based on employees’ friendly interactions rather than their business functions.

They can pass information, congratulate, complain about something, or talk about a hobby. This creates a sense of community, which may result in better relations, high morale, and a bumper workplace environment.

Encouraging Open Communication

Social media platforms afford structures of openness/transparency. They offer an environment that enables employees to express themselves with ideas, opinions, and suggestions and freely give criticism. This openness can enhance inventions and creativity because employees are encouraged to present their ideas and opinions.

Recognising and Celebrating Achievements

Social media can promote people’s accomplishments, whether small or large. Recognition for a job well done for accomplishing a team goal will increase motivation with public appreciation. It will make employees understand that their work is significant and acknowledged.

Facilitating Learning and Development

Social networks can also be an effective means of education. LinkedIn or even internal blogs within a company can be used to disseminate information and training material. People can participate in discussions, make inquiries, and offer useful information, creating a culture of regular learning.

Encouraging Employee Advocacy

Social media can turn employees into brand ambassadors. Therefore, happy employees naturally post positive workplace experiences on their personal Facebook walls. This not only creates a very positive image of the company, but it's also a way of attracting talent interested in working with it.

Setting up Social Media for Your Company

Now that we've explored the benefits, let's talk about implementation. Here are a few tips for how organisations effectively leverage social media for employee engagement:

Choose the Right Social Networks

The first step is choosing which social networks will work best. Look at what most of your employees already use in their personal lives. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are popular options. Then, one staff member can set up official company pages or profiles.

Next, decide who will manage the pages. Give one or two employees the job of posting new updates each week. Ensure they get help from others by asking coworkers to share news or photos from their departments. Give people a way to send this content to your social media managers easily.

Promoting Your Company’s Social Media

Once set up, you need people to start using the pages! Ask all employees to "like" or "follow" your new profiles. Have managers explain during meetings how social media can help everyone feel more connected as a team. Offer small rewards like prizes in a drawing for employees who share or comment the most during the first month. Promoting it will get people interested in checking in often.

Using Social Media to Engage Employees

Now is the time to use your new company's social media for fun employee engagement! Introduce new hires by posting photos and short bios. Ask questions to start conversations, like "What project are you most proud of this quarter?"

Recognise coworkers publicly for milestones and achievements. Share company news and let people discuss non-work topics like favorite sports teams or TV shows. The more personal it gets, the closer employees will feel!

Measuring Success and Keeping Momentum

After a few months, look at how many employees follow your social media pages. Are people posting and commenting regularly? Survey coworkers to see if they feel more connected to their colleagues because of it. Track how engagement affects other important numbers like employee satisfaction and retention.

Keep content fresh with new ideas. Try contests, polls, live video Q&As with managers, and more to boost ongoing participation.

Conclusion

Social Media Platforms are not only a means of advertising or media for conveying information. They are used as an effective tool for engaging the employees. Social media can revolutionize the organizational culture through community building, open communication, reward recognition and learning, work-life balance, and advocating. Therefore, why not give it a try?

About the author

Edrian Blasquino is a dedicated college instructor and licensed professional teacher, committed to inspiring and empowering students through innovative techniques and real-world applications to make education relevant and impactful. With a focus on fostering critical thinking and creativity, he strives to create an engaging and inclusive learning environment, continuously adapting his teaching strategies to meet the needs of diverse learners.

Why an organisation needs an EVP.

The EVP, or employee value proposition, has become increasing important since the great resignation changed the employment market. An EVP can play a key role in attracting, engaging, and retaining top talent as well as elevating an employer brand so, in a competitive recruitment market, should all organisations have one?

An EVP simply aims to set out and communicate the unique benefits and rewards that an organisation offers to their employees in exchange for their skills, experience, and commitment. This includes salary, benefits, rewards, career development, and work-life balance, as well as the organisation’s values, mission, social purpose, and culture. In short, it’s the value employees can expect to receive from their employment with an organisation. and why it’s the right place for an employee to thrive.

Key components of an EVP include:

·      Compensation and Benefits - salary, bonuses, health insurance, pension plans and any other financial incentives.

·      Career Development - the opportunities for growth, learning, and advancement that are available

·      Work-Life Balance - policies and practices that support a healthy balance between work and personal life

·      Company Culture - the values, mission, and culture of an organisation

·      Job Security - the assurance of a stable and secure employment environment.

·      Recognition and Rewards - programmes that acknowledge and appreciate employees' contributions.

·      Work Environment - the physical and social aspects of the workplace

·      Leadership and Management - the quality of leadership and management within the organisation

·      Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) - the commitment to give back to the community and address environmental and social issues.

·      Employee Wellbeing – the support for physical and mental health, wellness programmes, and employee assistance services.

Whilst an EVP highlights what an employee can or will receive in return for their commitment to an organisation, an employer brand is external and refers to an organisation’s reputation in the outside world. It highlights its mission, values, what it stands for, and what it’s like to work with, something that is increasingly important to potential employees. The EVP is therefore the core of an employer brand, something that shows the substance of an organisation and why it’s unique.

A well-defined EVP helps an organisation attract the right talent, engage employees, and retain them in the long term. It’s something that should be communicated clearly to both potential and existing employees, align clearly with the organisation’s values and goals and most importantly evolve over time as the organisation's needs and the job market change.

Self-awareness. The number one leadership skill?

Keywords

Resilience – Leadership – Self-awareness – Engagement – Emotional Intelligence – Bad Bosses

In this episode of Resilience Unravelled Rob Kalwarowsky, a TEDx speaker and the co-host of the Leadership Launchpad Project, discusses his experience with bad bosses and the impact it had on his mental health. Rob shares how he overcame depression and launched a career in leadership coaching.

Before transitioning into leadership coaching and speaking, Rob spent over 10 years as an engineer within mining, oil pipelines, and consulting in heavy industry. He was also a 3-time Academic All-American in NCAA Water Polo and played on the U18 Canadian National Water Polo team.  Now he uses a combination of high-performance coaching, technology, and analytics to build winning teams and help leaders achieve their goals. 

Main topics

• The negative effects of toxic bosses on company performance and employee well-being

• The qualities a manager needs to build engagement

• Employee engagement as a measure of good leadership

• How work can provide meaning and purpose

• Mindset, self-awareness, and the importance of self-management

• Internal and external awareness

• The need for emotional intelligence in leadership

• Resources for dealing with bad bosses

• Internal family systems and how it breaks down the internal world into parts or masks.

Timestamps

1: Introductions - 00:02 - 02:29
2: The Importance of Deep Work - 02.30 - 05:19
3: Self-Awareness as the Key Leadership Skill - 05.20 - 07:22
4: The Link Between Leadership and Engagement - 7.23 - 09:10
5: The Role of Managers in Building Engagement - 09.11 - 12:51
6: Leveraging Strengths and Purpose in Leadership - 12.53 - 18:01
7: Emotional Intelligence and Relational Intelligence - 18.02 - 23.02
8: Conclusion and Further Resources - 23.03 - 26.43

Action items

• Listen to Rob’s "Leadership Launchpad Project"

• Visit his website howtodealboss.com to access a free eBook on dealing with a bad boss. Use the code "resilience" to get $50 off the program offered on the website.

• Check out Robs Elite Performance page.

 You can listen to the podcast in full and find out further information here. Our upcoming guest list is also available along with our previous blogs.
Find out more about our innovative Resilience and Burnout solutions.   

Are you ‘rusting out’ at home?

Following on from quiet quitting, the next trend to hit the workplace seems to be ‘Rusting out’, the term used to describe a state of disengagement and apathy that can occur when someone feels unchallenged or unfulfilled in their work. It’s something that’s often associated with feelings of boredom and stagnation and can lead to a decline in motivation and productivity.

The benefits of ensuring employees are engaged is well established and is of course paramount for business growth. Finding the right work environment is therefore essential and, whilst working from home and hybrid working options really suit some people, others find being away from the office leaves them feeling less connected or engaged by work and at risk of ‘rusting out’.

There are several varying factors such as personality, work environment, job characteristics, and personal circumstances that can contribute to it, for example the nature of the work itself can play a significant role in preventing rust out. If the work is inherently unchallenging or lacks variety, it can lead to monotony and reduced motivation, regardless of whether one is working from home or in a traditional office setting. Employers should therefore strive to provide stimulating and meaningful work assignments to maintain employee engagement and prevent rust out.

Additionally, the increased autonomy and flexibility working from home provides allows individuals to have more control over their work schedules and environment. This can be beneficial as it provides an opportunity to manage work in a way that suits individual preferences and needs. Having control over one's work can help prevent rust out by promoting a sense of ownership and engagement but the lack of social interaction that can occur when working remotely is a real red flag. Social connections and interactions with colleagues are important for motivation and engagement in work so if an individual feels isolated and lacks opportunities for collaboration and socialisation, it may increase the risk of rust out.

The blurring of boundaries between work and personal life can be another problem. A lack of clear routines can make it challenging to maintain a healthy work-life balance because without proper boundaries, people may find themselves constantly working or struggling to separate work-related tasks from personal activities. This lack of structure can contribute to feelings of monotony and eventually lead to rust out.

Like its distant cousin ‘burn out’, ‘rust out’ can have a real negative impact on an individual's well-being and performance. Recognising the signs and taking appropriate steps to address the underlying causes is essential to restore motivation, engagement, and overall satisfaction in work and life. To mitigate the risk of ‘rust out’, it's important for individuals and organisations to establish effective communication and social connections, prioritise work-life balance, and ensure that work tasks remain engaging and meaningful!

Are your team disengaged?

Earlier this year Gallup reported that only 20% of employees globally are engaged so its quite possible that you work with someone who just doesn’t want to be there. Whilst an engaged workforce has a positive effect on business performance, disengaged employees can prove disastrous to an organisation so its important to realise when employees are starting to lose interest. Here are some of the things to look out for:

1. Arriving late, leaving early and generally bad timekeeping
2. A noticable drop in work output and quality
3. A change in working style with a preference for working in isolation
4. An increased number of unexplained absences
5. Not sharing ideas or fully contributing to the team
6. Making mistakes and missing deadlines when they were previously on top of things
7. An inabiity to, or disinterest in answering questions about their day-to-day role
8. Cancelling or rescheduling meetings with their managers or team members
9. A refusal to follow protocols
10. A negative reaction to change.

Once you have identified the signs of disengagement, you can start working on a plan to improve their engagement to get them back on track! Some of the ways you can do this includes:

1. Working with the employee to put a development plan in place - find out how they want to grow,  the skills they’d like to develop and potential growth opportunities
2. Setting goals with the employee so they feel more supported and can see how their work fits in with, and matters to, the organisation
3. Encouraging participation in one-on-one meetings so the employee can voice their concerns and wishes- then make sure you act on them!
4. Giving and getting regular feedback 
5. Recognising positive behaviour and strong performance in a way that the employee is comfortable with - a simple “thank you’ often works well!
6. Monitoring employee performance and potential to see if things are getting better on a continuous basis.  

Keeping employees engaged is a constant process that must be continuously worked on. Connecting and communicating effectively with employees can help you better identify and handle all levels of engagement.

Why neurodiversity is good for your business

It is suggested that around one in seven of the UK population are neurodiverse, the term used to describe someone who thinks differently though conditions such as ADHD, autism, Asperger syndrome, dyslexia, dyspraxia or dyscalculia.  These “spectrum” conditions have a wide range of characteristics, but share some common features in the way people learn and process information. Increasingly , it has been shown that these characteristics can bring a variety of strengths to the workplace, such as problem solving, pattern identification and enhanced visual spatial thinking.

In the workplace neurodiverse people can use their unique qualities to excel in specific areas and provide new perspectives to old challenges. For example, people with autism tend to be logical and data-driven and do not fall into confirmation biases easily. People with dyslexia are often inventive and creative with around 20 per cent of the UK’s entrepreneurs being dyslexic, including Richard Branson, Lord Sugar and Jamie Oliver.

Whilst there are tasks and roles that neurodiverse people are well suited to, there are others that may not be right for them or environments that don't play to their strengths. Workplaces and work patterns are generally designed by neurotypical people and the ways of working that help neurodiverse people perform may be seen as out of place. Bright office lights or computer screens, noisy open-plan offices, and a lack of personal organisation could prove very difficult but are relatively easily adjusted. Strengths-based management that focuses on enabling people to do what they can do and love to do (whilst avoiding the things they can’t do) and aligns these abilities to what the organisation is trying to achieve, can also help get the best from neurodiverse employees.

Aspects of good support and management are equally applicable to all employees - giving clear instructions, ensuring staff are not overloaded and providing a working environment that is free of distractions - but specific knowledge about neurodiversity should also be shared. Teams can then understand and accommodate co-workers and provide help where needed. Neurodiverse staff also won’t necessarily pick up on any ‘unwritten rules’ of your company, so HR departments and line managers should be aware of each member of the team’s strengths and weakness to alleviate any workplace issues.

Provided ways of minimising any areas of weakness can be put in place, there are great benefits for employers having employees who think differently. Creativity, lateral thinking, bringing a different perspective, the development of highly specialised skills and the consistency in tasks once mastered are all skills that allow companies to be more innovative, spot solutions others may have missed and make better decisions as a result. Ultimately though, neurodiversity in the workplace is about helping everyone thrive and seeing everyone as talent no matter how their brain works.

Embracing the 4-day working week?

In 1926 Henry Ford became one of the most high profile employers to reduce the working week from six days to five. As well as the benefits this brought to his employees, his business actually benefited as productivity rose as his employee’s leisure time increased. Since then, the five-day working week has generally become the norm but now the question being asked is whether a further decrease in hours would not only lead to improvements in productivity, but also to employees mental and physical health.

The 4-day Week Global initiative is a coordinated, 6-month trial of a 4-day working week.  It’s currently running in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK where there are 3,000 workers in 70 companies each having an extra full day off each week whilst still being paid 100% of their salary.

Supporters of the idea highlight the benefits that a reduced working week might bring. Staff who work less may be healthier and less stressed so there could be a noticeable reduction in burnout, depression and anxiety as well as countering the negative impacts of remote working. Reduced hours would improve employees work life balance with more options for flexible working and increased time for family responsibilities and commitments, socialising, exercise, continuing education and volunteering, all leading to an improvement in both mental and physical health. 

Advocates also argue that employers have a lot to gain from a shorter working week. Employees who are better rested and generally happier tend to be more focused, and motivated. This in turn could boost productivity and engagement and reduce the number of absences caused by illnesses, stress, and mental health conditions. Moving to a four-day working week could also make companies more appealing places to work and help in recruiting and retaining the best talent.

Despite these benefits, many businesses are hesitant. Even if predictions that reduced hours would increase productivity are true, its quite possible that changing work patterns would prove difficult and expensive to particularly in industries such as hospitality, retail and health implement where choices would need to be made in terms of staffing and opening hours. Although a reduction in hours might seem a good option for people unable to work from home, perhaps the question should be whether more time off or an increase in salary would be most beneficial?

The feedback from the initiative at the halfway point of the project has been mixed, with some companies taking part finding it difficult to implement and benefit from a different operational model. Other response has been positive though so with three months to go its becoming increasingly obvious that whilst shortening the working week isn’t a silver bullet for increasing engagement, productivity and improved employees physical and mental health, in some businesses it may well help.

Is the workplace a gratitude free zone?

To get the best from employees, it’s well established that they need to feel valued. The drive for wanting to do well primarily comes from a feeling of being acknowledged and appreciated so why do some businesses seem to think that saying thank you isn’t necessary?

Gratitude can be a great motivator! It can also contribute to the kind of workplace that has fewer sick days, lower levels of work stress, improved work relationships, and greater job satisfaction and self-esteem. Studies also show that employees who receive gratitude are more likely take on things that aren’t necessarily part of their job, helping to contribute to a culture of positivity and an environment where employees are happy to go above and beyond.

Positive habits and a culture of gratitude has to start at the top - just a quick thank you from the boss can go long way! Everyone wants to have a positive experience at work and to feel appreciated and recognised and a thank you is a no cost way of showing your appreciation.

We live in a culture where problems are regularly highlighted but the positives ignored. Leaders and managers who don’t thank their employees won’t get the best from them. A lack of gratitude leaves employees feeling unsatisfied, unappreciated and demotivated, all of which have a significant impact on employee happiness, engagement and productivity.

Turn towards your dreams

Machiel Klerk is a licensed therapist and expert on dreams. He is founder of the Jung Platform, an online space offering psychological and spiritual perspectives to live a life of meaning in which you are connected to soul and is also the author of Dream Guidance, Hay House/June 2022).

Machiel became interested in dreams in his early 20’s. He was stuck in life, didn't know where to go and had not dealt with the grief of losing his father at a young age. He became fascinated by the works of Jung, which opened the door to the world of dreams. He realised how dreams could help people connect with their lives, with purpose, with the worldview about life and death and all the other fundamental aspects of existence.

Machiel saw that his dreams reflected his own internal dynamics and displayed aspects of himself that he wasn’t aware of. He saw unhelpful behaviours being played out by dream characters and would then ask where in his life was it from. Once he admitted to doing the same things, he could then correct the more destructive behaviours but he also saw that dreams could be used to point out direction and the way to go.

If you go back to the last dream or a very intense dream you have had, you will remember that you were in an environment – you were somewhere where you were having an experience. A dream is a world you find yourself in during your sleep. Your mind is still awake in the dream but you are not very aware so you forget about it and don't even know you are in the dream world. When you know that a dream is a world that you find yourself in you can have and practice experiences. Most research shows that this state of consciousness stays with us the moment we wake up so we continue to live in this world with the dream world co-existing.

You might want to be able to join in the your own experience of the dream to make sense of it. Once you are there it is possible to learn the reality of how the dream is constructed, how your own mind creates part of the dream and your emotions, expectations and intent. You can also ask for experiences or to be shown something important. This gives us an enriched sense of experiences and makes us elastic and better able to carry out the broad range of emotions feelings and experiences in this world and be more resilient and effective with a more enriched balance of the experiences of life.

It is possible to interpret dreams but there are huge limitations to this. Usually interpretations come from the idea that the dream is a letter that needs to be deciphered whereas it’s actually an inner world or environment. If you ask a question such as ‘I’m in a maze and I cant get out’ almost inevitably this is an experience you are having in your day-to-day life. Your dream repeats this and if you can start to slow it down, start to feel in your body what it feels like to be stuck, not to know how to get out, you can start training yourself to feel that you have to hurry up to get out of this. By slowing down and feeling it, you may be able to sustain the tension of not knowing so maybe something else can come up as well. There is a self-organising mechanism inside of us that offers very creative solutions for the troubles we find.

Nightmares are almost like dreams with the eyes open.  The dream life and this world seem to intersect. Dreams often deal with fear and almost always there is too much or too little fear in the individuals life. Research after World War 2 was done with veterans who started to write down and acknowledge their dreams about what had already happened. The positive impact was that by paying some attention to what’s was going on inside of them instead of running away they turned to towards it.

Some people have recurring dreams that they get stuck on. Something in our habitual consciousness or ego hasn't been picked up on. The dream is trying to communicate a different style of living that's more conducive but we continue to run towards the thing we are doing that's not effective. If you engage with the dream then the dream will start rearranging itself and providing ways to deal with it. Write it down, engage with it or talk to dream character so habitual cracks open and the energy in the dream will provide a different state of consciousness that is a better adaption to life.  Turning towards your dream and engaging with it is the key. By pushing it away it’s making the dream reoccur. Dreams are providing information to interpret something from the past or to prepare for something in the future.

Dreams are often seen as goals and can sometimes be the catalyst to great innovation. Some breakthroughs in science, music and other art forms come from spontaneous, helpful dreams. People can proactively consult with their dream as if it's a counselor or a helpful friend in their dream who who responds to heartfelt, genuine questions about their life. It's a way we can engage with the world of dreams.

 You can find more about Machiel at http://www.jungplatform.com or http://www.machielklerk.com

You can listen to the podcast in full and find out further information here. Our upcoming guest list is also available along with our previous blogs.
Find out more about our innovative Resilience and Burnout solutions.

The demise of the annual performance review

Over the past few years there has been a growing trend away from annual performance reviews. As a result many organisations including Deloitte, Adobe and Accenture are now reporting improved employee morale, productivity and innovation.

With the changing nature of business and employee expectations, organisations need to adapt quickly to ensure business continuity. An annual process of management, monitoring, evaluation and realignment no longer provides this.

By its nature, an annual performance review consolidates a year’s worth of feedback into one meeting with recent events understandably at the fore. This means managers feel they don’t have to provide in-the-moment or regular feedback and employees hold back their thoughts about their role, the organisation and their ideas for potential changes or improvements. Often there is no organisation-wide standard so reviews can be seen as unfair when promotions and salary increases are included as part of the process. 

Many employees want more feedback so the focus should perhaps change to continuous performance management. This would allow a more informal, agile and less stressful process with the organisation able to dynamically set goals, get feedback and improve productivity along with better collaboration, greater alignment and more collective responsibility. Employees would benefit from increased recognition and work evaluation, more performance feedback and empowerment and the alignment of their personal goals with organisational ones

There is a clear correlation between higher level of motivation and timely, accurate feedback so maybe its time for managers to look for ways to give effective continuous feedback.?

Mastering the nine pillars of resilience

Dr Stephen Sideroff started his career as a research looking at a learning and memory. He then moved into clinical work where he quickly realised stress was a major modulator of how people felt. They could be feeling really good but as soon as the amount of stress in their life increased, their coping abilities become strained and they began to develop different kinds of symptoms. He realised that if he helped people deal with stress it would help in all areas of their lives.

Dr Sideroff feels that people have a lot of ambivalence about managing stress because not all stress is bad and also because many of our successes are accompanied by stress. Because of this he switched to a more positive concept of resilience that he finds people are more attuned to.  As a result he developed his own nine pillar model of resilience. Stephen’s nine pillars encompass three different areas:

1. Relationships

a. Relationship with self. This is the foundation of all the other pillars. How you relate to yourself. Do you come from a place of love, acceptance and compassion or from a place of judgement, criticism and negativity.

b. Relationship with others. Do you have good boundaries. Can you make good choices in who you choose as people to relate to. If you have no choice eg a boss or colleague can you maintain good boundaries so you don't absorb negative or conflictual energy.

c. Relationship with something greater. This includes spirituality and having meaning in life. Having purpose or giving service, something that connects you to the larger community.

2. Balance and Mastery

a.    Physical balance and mastery. This is usually what people refer to when they talk about stress management.  Being able to relax readily, getting a good night’s sleep and being able to keep your nervous system in a place of balance.

b. Cognitive balance and mastery. This is about having a positive outlook and expectations. It doesn't mean you ignore dangers but once you've planned for them and handled them you switch into a more positive frame of reference.

c. Emotional balance and mastery.  Are you able to notice feelings that arise in your body and do you handle them appropriately so that you can let them move through and out of your body and not carry any excess emotional baggage

3. How we engage in the world

a.    Presence. People usually refer to being aware of your surroundings and being present in the moment. Stephen looks at two directions of presence. One is what I’m receiving and being aware of my environment and the second is my presence. What is the energy I project out to the world and that includes facial expression, posture etc.

b.    Flexibility. Am I able to make adjustments based on current circumstances. This has been very important over the last couple of years as paths of success have been blocked because of the pandemic. Are we able to make adjustments so that we can still get satisfied. Are we able to have different perspectives and also see those of other people. It’s about flexibility on many levels.

c.     The ability to get things done. We’re able to go out into the world. We have courage, persistence and perseverance so we can be successful in life. When we are successful it increases our sense of agency and self-confidence and then we experience stresses less impactfully.

One of the things about resilience is that it takes challenges to become more resilience. Challenges are resilience fuel. Dr Sideroff found his challenges in relationships, moves to different locations and jobs as well as challenges in the jobs forced him to challenge himself and become more resilient. He worked for fifteen years as an apprentice to a shaman which showed him a whole different way of viewing the world. It was in those years that he broke through some of his own defenses. He feels we can’t stay just on the surface of life.  The wounding is what breaks us open and causes us to reach deeply inside ourselves. All of this was what shaped him and how he approaches resilience.

Dr Sideroff has used biofeedback in and research biofeedback for many years. Biofeedback is a way of monitoring some aspects of your physiology and feeding that back to the person you’re working with or yourself. When you make an adjustment physiologically you get immediate feedback letting you know of your success so its an optimum conditioning or learning model that helps us tune in better to our bodies so we get into a better place of physiological balance.

Neurofeedback monitors brainwave patterns so you are able to get more directfully to the origins of physiological control For example, Dr Sideroff participated in a research study where they went into a drug treatment facility where they did a series of neurofeedback sessions. The first stage was to help people become more present by enhancing their access to prefrontal cortex and the cortex in general so it helped with attentional issues and being able to focus. They then shifted into another neurofeedback approach called Alfa Beta. This creates a deep state, a beta state in which memories can come up. Trauma can also come up but in the context of a very calm state so it’s a way of helping someone move through their trauma and be able to let go of it. It had tremendous success in the research study where there was twice as much abstinence two years post treatment as in the control group and 77% after three years.  This helped to put this kind of neurofeedback model into a number of drip drug treatment centres.

Resilience is a lens that brings together many schools of thoughts into a more tangible set of circumstances. Right now Dr Sideroff feels it is very important for people to learn resilience. We are all faced with huge challenges in the world. The complexity of life right now and with the pandemic and war in Ukraine makes it really challenging people all over the world. Resilience is a fluid kind of concept because it’s always about the best way of being in the present moment.

The future is evolving so quickly in comparison to the last twenty years. We are moving to adaptability and the reinvention of the future for ourselves.  There are some factors that interfere with our adaptability. If we adapt very well to our childhood environment that adaption can get locked so we carry the same type of adaption into adulthood.  If we have difficulty adapting to the adult environment it may be because we carry the lessons of our childhood into adulthood. If we grow up in a very dangerous childhood environment where we are always on the lookout for danger as an adult we keep our stress response activated much more that it needs to be. The lessons of childhood very frequently get in the way of fully adapting as an adult.

You can listen to the podcast in full and find out further information here. Our upcoming guest list is also available along with our previous blogs.

You can find out more or take Dr Sideroff’s resilience challenge or download a relaxation visulisation exercise at drstephensideroff.com  

A resilience assessment booklet is available by emailing sideroff@ucla.edu