Personal resilience is ‘the ability to bounce back or positively adapt to ongoing stress or adversity’. While we might often observe how resilient others are in the face of adversity, the good news is that we can all learn to be more personally resilient.

Decades of research evidence tells us that personal and emotional resilience is based on attitudes, behaviours and social support that can be developed by anyone.

Many interventions designed to develop personal resilience have shown improvements in developing resilience resources in leaders and employees so that they can better cope with workplace stressors that lead to increases in goal attainment, productivity, and improved performance.

This workshop will provide an overview of different approaches to developing personal resilience, and through practical and interactive exercises take participants on a journey to develop a personal plan for building resilience that is sustainable and transferable to their own workplace and situations.

By the end of the session, participants will:

• Understand the importance and benefits of developing personal resilience effectively
• Consider the different practical approaches to developing personal resilience, particularly as leaders within an organisation
• Develop practical proactive coping strategies that will support progression through work challenges/transitions/career
• Understand how best to practically promote and build personal resilience in others
• Develop a personal plan to continue to build their own personal resilience in the short to medium term

Workshop Leaders

Dr Máire Kerrin is a founding Director of the Work Psychology Group, a research led consultancy specialising in Assessment, Development and Innovation. She has over 20 years of experience working in these areas in the UK and internationally. A Chartered Occupational Psychologist, prior to setting up the Work Psychology Group, Máire held a number of academic posts including Senior Lecturer in Organisational Psychology at City University, London and Lecturer in Organisational Psychology at the University of Nottingham. The development of personal resilience, in particular in relation to leading for innovation, forms a central part of her evidence based practice.

Victoria (Vicky) Roe is a Senior Consultant at Work Psychology Group and a Chartered Occupational Psychologist. Her areas of interest include learning and development, leadership and resilience and assessment. She has experience in leading a wide range of high profile projects across sectors including organisation-wide training and change initiatives.

If you’d like to find out more about us: Boosting Resilience Open Learning Programme