In today’s fast-paced corporate landscape, resilience is more than just a buzzword – it’s a competitive advantage and critical skill that empowers individuals and organizations to thrive amidst challenges. At Nipro, we recognize the importance of fostering resilience in our employees to help them adapt to change and overcome obstacles.
With this aim, Nipro (Belgium) has organized an 8-session resilience program at our office in Mechelen. Led by Irina Oschepkova, a corporate wellness consultant, the comprehensive program is filled with practical tips and strategies that participants can employ when they feel overwhelmed.
Nipro’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Bart Van Bambost, shares why Nipro has organized this resilience program.
“At Nipro, we want to provide our employees with the tools necessary for them to excel in their jobs. In today’s fast-paced world, there are many competing factors and situations. We decided to offer a series of resilience training sessions to equip our colleagues with helpful mindsets and behaviors for overcoming challenging situations. Our goal is to enhance their well-being, productivity, and perseverance. It goes further than merely functioning in any situation; it’s about bouncing back and thriving.”
"We offer resilience training to equip our colleagues with helpful mindsets and behaviors for overcoming challenging situations. It goes further than merely functioning in any situation; it’s about bouncing back and thriving."
Each session is a mixed bag of activities. From meditation to physical stretches and ‘brain dump to-do lists’, participants are given a set of tools and guided on how to use them to find solutions that resonate with their needs. Theories like the well-known Eisenhower Matrix, a task management tool that helps individuals to organize and prioritize their tasks by urgency and importance, are put into practice.
According to Oschepkova:
“Most of us know the theory to a certain extent - the problem is that we don’t have the time or opportunity to implement it. Sessions at Nipro are a dedicated container of time and space for you to learn and practice stress management. We move from just ‘knowing’ to ‘doing’ by trying different techniques on the spot. Each technique is a bite-sized piece of advice you can follow in your daily life, customized for real life examples. Between the weekly one-hour sessions, participants have access to a whole library of practices, and also a handy reminder of their customized resilience recipe.”
"Sessions at Nipro are a dedicated container of time and space for you to learn and practice stress management. We move from just ‘knowing’ to ‘doing’ by trying different techniques on the spot."
For example, ‘mindfulness’ is a technique that can be easily applied to everyday situations. To illustrate this, in one session, participants were each given a piece of dark chocolate with caramel and sea salt, and encouraged to truly savor the depth of flavor and feel the jagged edges of the sea salt. Mindfully. With the intent to be fully aware of what they were experiencing.
But why is resilience important? Oschepkova explains:
“When we are stressed, we tend to follow the easiest way of coping with it, and often it is not the best long-term solution for our well-being. Building resilience helps us to manage stress. Resilient people can adapt and bounce back to normal when things don’t go as planned. So, there are two skills of resilience: to cope more effectively in difficult times and to recover faster afterwards.”
Judging by the response of participants, the resilience program is helping many in their daily lives and work. A Nipro employee following the program, Sarah De Roover, confirms:
“These sessions have helped me find a way to learn to pause and reflect during stressful moments, allowing me to gather my thoughts. I am learning to prioritize and distinguish between urgent and non-urgent matters - of course this is a process. Furthermore, the breathing exercises from the program are very useful, you can do them wherever you are and even without anyone noticing.”
"I am learning to prioritize and distinguish between urgent and non-urgent matters."
Attending this resilience program is useful not only if one is experiencing stress, but also as a preparation for if (or, when) one feels stressed in the future. As another Nipro employee participating in the program, Sheng-Yi Ye, reveals:
“I think it's important to be prepared for when stress hits. Understanding these tools can benefit not only me but also my colleagues and those around me. Understanding the theory has helped me to organize my knowledge and streamline my routine. Even though I’m not currently experiencing stress, I’ve noticed that applying some of the techniques has improved my performance.”
"Even though I’m not currently experiencing stress, I’ve noticed that applying some of the techniques has improved my performance."
Want to know how you can increase your resilience? Here are 3 top tips to build a resilient mindset from Irina Oschepkova:
- Movement, mindfulness, and meditation as stress management tools are accessible to everyone. It is only a matter of trying and finding what suits you – just like you would shop for clothes to find what fits.
- Small things matter. Get started and practice meditation - studies show that even as little as 10 minutes a day (100 minutes when you do this for 10 days!) will have a great impact on your state: reducing stress and irritability, improving attention and vitality.
- Practice self-compassion. ‘Life happens’ and sometimes we fall back on unhealthy choices. Don’t blame yourself, keep on building new healthy habits, and soon you will notice that you are becoming a better family member, friend, and colleague.
