Building Resilience @ UIowa - Overview I’m Megan Hammes, Manager for liveWELL at the University of Iowa. I’m going to be sharing with you some information and resources related to personal resilience that are available to you as a University employee. In this video, you will gain an understanding of what resilience is and what makes it important, how you can improve skills that build your own personal resilience, and the services and resources that are available to you. I’m sure you have heard someone make a reference to an individual and call them a “highly resilient person”. But what does that mean? The definition we use for resilience is “the ability to effectively respond to challenges and move forward in a positive way”. The key works here are “respond to challenges” because challenges provide us with the opportunity to learn, grow, and innovate. One example may be an employee faced with a challenge of temporarily relocating their office when flooding threatened the permanent work area. This employee worked with colleagues to relocate, kept things in perspective viewing the move as temporary, prioritized work, and looked for ways to help others in the same situation. The employee responded to the challenge and moved forward effectively. Another example may be more ambiguous. An employee knows there work may be changing. A supervisor might be retiring, but they are unsure of what is going to happen once they leave. They feel like things are kind of in limbo right now. A resilient employee focuses on what is in his or her control, utilizes strengths to continue to do good work, and has a hopeful, positive outlook for the future despite some unknowns. Although some people may appear to be naturally more resilient than others, resilience is not a trait, but rather a set of skills that can be learned over time. The American Psychological Association has identified the following ways in which you can build your personal resilience.  Make strong social connections  Avoid seeing crises as insurmountable problems  Accept that change is a part of living  Move towards your goals  Take decisive actions  Look for opportunities for self-discovery  Nurture a positive view of yourself  Keep things in perspective  Maintain a hopeful outlook  Take good care of yourself All of these skills are extremely important in building and sustaining resilience. Within University Human Resources, we have developed a series of skill-building sessions that focus on these major areas and include: 1) Happiness and Optimism, 2) Emotional Awareness, 3) Problem Solving, Communication and Coping and 4) Self Care and Staying Healthy. These 4 seminars are designed to help you build skills in core areas of resilience. Before getting started on your personal journey to build resilience, you may want to determine how resilient your already are. Through Self-Service, you can access the Healthy Living Center and complete an on-line Resilience Scale. This assessment will provide you a general overview of your current resilience level and areas you may consider for improvement. Other resources that are available to you as University employee include. • Requesting on-site skill building seminars for work groups • Seeking support and assistance from an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Counselor • Working with a Health Coach • Or choosing from a variety of skill and training seminars through Learning and Development. Additional videos and resources can be found online at hr.uiowa.edu/livewell/resilience. April 2015 © The University of Iowa 2015. All rights reserved.