Stress and poor psychological wellbeing are the crises of our modern working world. They need a committed response from people leaders everywhere. Now, GCC Balance is business’s new weapon against stress.

The latest module in GCC’s global, evidence-based health program has been formulated with renowned stress management expert, Dr Cynthia Ackrill. Through the use of online exercises based on neuroscience and positive psychology, GCC Balance uses awareness and education to help your employees develop the strong, resilient mindset common to all high performers.

To mark GCC Balance, we bring you the first chapter in GCC’s Organisational Psychology series, featuring Dr Ackrill. Here, she explains what grit is and how to cultivate it for better business outcomes.

A recent GCC Insights paper has revealed that one in every three employees suffers from extreme levels of stress at work.¹

The reason, according to Dr Cynthia Ackrill – leader in the field of Stress Management, and GCC Balance’s expert consultant – is that our current working culture isn’t supporting the best of human potential.

The demand to do more with less promotes stress and burnout. But in reality, businesses are most competitive when they’re staffed full of what Tony Schwartz, writing in the Harvard Business Review, described as ‘corporate athletes’; employees who manage their physical and emotional energy and – as a result – have grit.

But what exactly is grit?

“Put simply, it’s resilience,” Dr Ackrill says. “In the context of performance, grit occurs when you feel like you have the skills and resources to handle the challenge in front of you. In your mind, you think ‘I can do this’ rather than feeling overwhelmed.

“Grit is an important part of stress management and although it’s subjective to some extent, its cornerstones are confidence, courage and strength. That’s what grit is.”

Here, Dr Ackrill gives three tips to help business cultivate gritty employees who always bring their A-game.

Build strength by – taking care of the basics

"Too often, employees work in an environment that doesn’t always reward the fundamentals of self-care. You might know that employee who skips breakfast at work, or is frowned upon because they take their full lunch hour.

"It sounds small, but the basics, things as simple as food, need to be in place just to survive. If they’re not, then employees can’t be expected to thrive. The solution is to manage workplace energy – physical, mental and emotional – better than we currently do. Think of athletes: they are obsessive about their rest, nutrition, and staying within the bounds of their strengths and their vision. The workers who support entire economies need – and deserve – that same treatment".

Promote confidence with – values based leadership

"Our business culture is often focused on external motivation, on reward and punishment systems, when it’s actually intrinsic motivation that drives us as humans. We know what makes us tick and what makes us happy. Good leaders should allow space for employees to map their innate strengths and talents to wider organisational demands, not always the other way around. So when challenges do arise, the will – and confidence – to overcome them is already embedded in your workforce."

Get courage by – applying a deft touch

"Grit is about being mentally tough. But ironically, this only comes about when we make the workplace an emotionally safe place to be human. Modern work culture isn’t known for promoting vulnerability. And employees may be stigmatised if they ask for help. Good leaders make limits and boundaries a positive thing. Not something shameful."

For more on grit and resilience, download our free whitepaper, The will to overcome.

Next in GCC’s Organisational Psychology series: ‘Defining happiness at work’

^{1 GCC Insights. Stress. The hidden threat in every workplace. GCC Insights. 2015.}