Why You Will Need a Resilient Workforce in Today's Economy

MIT Professor Yossi Sheffi extended the resilience concept to business continuity initiatives in his 2005 book The Resilient Enterprise. Dr. Sheffi analyzed how disruptions can adversely affect the operations of corporations and how investments in resilience can give a business a competitive advantage over entities not prepared for various contingencies. Business organizations such as the Council on Competitiveness have embraced resilience and have tied economic competitiveness to security. The Reform Institute has highlighted the need to enhance the resilience of the supply chain and electrical grid against disruptions that could cripple the U.S. economy. Many corporations are adopting resilience and business continuity initiatives and sharing best practices. Many experts and leaders see resilience as a vital component to a comprehensive homeland security strategy. Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that not all catastrophic events can be prevented and a focus on response and recovery is needed. The real question is whether or not we are focusing on resilience with regard to external factors or occurences while perhaps overlooking the internal resilience of individuals within our own enterprise? Over the past few weeks we have discussed the impact of the economy on individuals within the workforce, and the growing cynicism of corporate motives that has accompanied the steady decline of the cradle to grave security that was for many years the hallmark of being a company man or woman. This raises the question is corporate resilience aligned with individual employee resilience? Joining me to talk about this fascinating and even worklife-altering segment is the author of "Managing Employee Stress and Safety" and renowned expert in the stress management and resilience field for over 25 years, David Lee.