Dive Brief:

• Developing resilience within a company can pay off in the form of revenue growth driven by increased innovation and engagement, according to a study by BetterUp. 

• The direct reports of highly resilient managers experience 52% less burnout and are 78% less likely to leave the organization. They also report 57% greater purpose in their work and more than double the levels of resilience compared to the direct reports of low-resilience leaders.

• Resilient workers are also scoring nearly 20% higher than their peers in cognitive flexibility and team creativity. They are also earning more income, more likely to be engaged in physical activity, getting better sleep and reporting higher productivity, according to the BetterUp study.

Dive Insight:

Early on in the pandemic, employers and workers were aware of the importance of resilience. In April, Udemy reported its growth mindset course, which teaches a "willingness and resilience to deal with change," grew by 231%. LinkedIn Learning also saw significant growth for related courses. The BetterUp study provides evidence to the value of developing resilience internally, while also noting that it is a skill which can be learned.

In the early stages of the pandemic in the U.S., workers questioned their employers’ capacity for resilience against unprecedented challenges. In fact, 32% of employees in an Eagle Hill Consulting survey said they trusted their organizational leadership’s ability to handle the pandemic, while just 24% said their organizations have the culture for innovation to withstand the times. 

Those sentiments have improved, according to more recent research. Eighty percent of respondents in a Randstad employee survey were pleased with their employer's COVID-19 response to their professional needs and 76% reported satisfaction with their employer's actions to meet personal needs as well. 

Ultimately, training and development are gaining heightened importance due to the new set of skills employers need within their ranks. Usage of e-learning is on the rise significantly, according to a survey by the Association for Talent Development and, more broadly, adoption of learning technology is expected to make a rapid leap forward in response to the need to upskill today’s newly remote, distributed workforces.