Jessica Pryce-Jones
Guardian Professional, Monday 13 May 2013 07.00 BST
Article from http://www.guardian.co.uk/voluntary-sector-network/
How can you keep employees motivated in difficult financial times? Photograph: Alamy
The effect of the recession on organisations in the voluntary sector has been well documented over the past few years. As donations have dropped by as much as 20%, costs have risen and demands for services have increased. In short, charities are struggling to deliver more with fewer resources.
But what receives less attention is the effect of this working environment on employees in the charity sector.
"Resilience" can be defined as the level of grit that you have available to handle situations that need more drive, focus and resolution than usual. Resilient employees continue to complete tasks steadily and achieve their goals even when, for example, budgets are cut, or the demands upon them suddenly increase. While it is in difficult times that resilience is harder to maintain, it's also when it is most important.
Our research among over 30,000 leaders shows quite clearly that resilience is linked most strongly to feelings of efficiency and effectiveness; the more effective you feel, the better placed you are to continue to deliver in tough circumstances.
Motivation is also part of the answer to resilience; employees that lack motivation will be unable to respond effectively to a challenging working environment.
Maintaining resilience
So in practical terms, how can leaders in the voluntary sector help to improve feelings of effectiveness and motivation and thereby maximise resilience in their organisations?
• Proactive coping – Proactive coping is having the means in place to deal with stressful situations when they arise unexpectedly. On an organisational level, this comes from having the built-in systems to react. Employees should be involved in the development of these strategies, for example, by identifying eventualities that need to be planned for, what resources might be needed, and what contingencies the organisation should be aware of.
• Remember that challenges are not necessarily bad – The only way to develop resilience is to be challenged. The US sociologist Glen Elder found that children growing up in the Depression were much more resilient than people who faced their first testing time in life later on. It is important for employees to remember that previous scenarios where success has been achieved against the odds will help in the future.
• Focus on strengths – All too many job appraisals and performance-management systems concentrate on what's wrong rather than assessing what people are good at. This can be facilitated by asking employees to identify strengths of colleagues and assessing how these link to their roles, and help them to perform well.
• Make sure staff and management take breaks and stay healthy – Loehr and Schwartz, who have conducted extensive research into athletes, argue that balancing stress and recovery is critical. On a practical level they recommend that you take a break or change focus every 90 to 120 minutes. Health is also important. The more healthy a person is, the more resilient to stress they will be. Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, for example, claims that its Team Resilience Programme has reduced work-related mental illness by as much as 60%, has seen a 10%-16% cut in fatigue and frustration levels and a 21% increase in job satisfaction.
Conclusion
In difficult times, it is easy simply to try and browbeat management and employees into meeting difficult goals. Yet this rarely succeeds, and is never sustainable. Resilience and motivation are not "nice-to-have" – they are essential for charities trying to weather the recession effectively .
Jessica Pryce-Jones is joint founder and partner of the iOpener Institute for People and Performance.
Jessica Pryce-Jones
Guardian Professional, Monday 13 May 2013 07.00 BST
Article from http://www.guardian.co.uk/voluntary-sector-network/
