A proactively resilient workforce with ‘bounce’ to thrive

Aahhh… petrichor. The scent of rain. Fresh. Earthy. Full of promise…

…until a few drops turn into a downpour, you get drenched in your Sunday best because, who even carries an umbrella when the sun was shining just a moment ago, your shoes are covered in mud and let’s not even talk about the new ‘hair-do’ you’ve acquired in the meantime…

Chuckle. Huff. Eye roll. Slight wince (ahem). Whatever your reaction – we all know that just like an unexpected storm has its unwanted (and unwelcomed) effects, today’s organisational climate is ever-changing, and the pressure is ON.

Whether you’re dreaming of that first job, ready to job-hop for the tenth time, have recently been promoted or are leading a dream team, the reality of change is something that can easily drench us all. The writing’s been on the wall of change long enough though: navigating life with all its ambiguity, novelty and disruption without intentionally preparing and equipping ourselves is simply not enough.

And yes, we get it – tough times don’t last, tough people do…

Why is it then, that more often than not, we find ourselves whizzing around like a ten Rand note in a tumble dryer? (Can anyone relate?)

Bouncing back, coming back, bringing back your ‘A’ game in the face of adversity is only part of what’s required to cope with the divergent facets of uncertainties organisations currently face on a global level.

At RAiN, we recognise that the time to strategise, reinvent, and reimagine is NOW. We need to be able to weather the storms life throws at us.

So, what if we could reimagine the newness and possibilities rain brings? What if we could find a better way to expect the unexpected and deal with it more effectively?

Developing prosilience as one of our top ‘tough-it-up’ skills should be critically high on our priority list. 

The better we’re equipped to deal with both calculated change and the curveballs of unexpected change, the better for us and those around us.

And that’s exactly what we’ll be unpacking in this post.

Building a better ‘bounce’

Recent changes in the world have the entire global workforce locked in a position where it needs to shift from mere coping to thriving in volatile work environments.

Leaders in financial roles face constantly having to change gears to meet tight deadlines, maintain an even tighter work tempo, juggle ever-increasing job demands and stay relevant. Smile and wave. This comes with the package. And just when we think we can bounce back from any such challenge, a few ‘new kids’ recently bounced onto the block to claim their permanent residency in the global working environment. You know, a pandemic, remote work, co-working spaces, not to mention Artificial Intelligence. Try keeping all these balls in the air all the time and before you know it, the only ‘bounce’ you’ll most likely experience is when you hit burnout as the balls come crashing down.

How many of us have lately, or are currently experiencing a crash of some sort?

We need a better plan. There must be a better way. Something’s got to give.

So, if change is a given, why not be proactive in building your resilience before encountering a challenge that can make a huge difference to how you respond when it happens?

Yet, just as biceps are not built overnight, the “muscles of change” need to be flexed on an intentional, regular basis to strengthen your prosilient mindset. Prosilience is about consciously building the capability to deal with a range of everyday difficulties, including those that come with organisational change. Prosilience empowers us to feel more prepared and more in control in the face of change when it happens again.

And it will. That’s why, this month, we’ll dive a bit deeper into why building your bounce for the better really is better and how you can go about it. In next week’s article we’ll talk about how to build prosilience.

Until then, a little drizzle won’t hurt… You know now you can ‘bounce’ it out.

• Hoops, L. Prosilience: Building Your Resilience for a Turbulent World, 2017.
• Jooste, M 2020, The Role of Emotion, Psychophysiological Markers of Burnout and Their Relevance within the Leadership Pipeline, PhD Thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, Available at: yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/78176>
• Jooste, M & Coetzee, N. 2022. The role of emotional intelligence in the experience of burinout among South African leaders working in financial roles. International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 13 (1): 83-101.