Vassia Manika | Corporate Wellbeing Innovator
One of the phrases that concerns me most in organizations is: “Our people need to become more resilient.” It usually reflects a genuine need. Teams are being asked to manage change, pressure, uncertainty, and increasing demands. However, this wording can easily place the entire responsibility on the employee.
Resilience does not mean becoming accustomed to overload or remaining silent when something is not working. It means being able to adapt, recover, make use of available resources, and seek support early without fear.
Resilience Is Not Silent Endurance
An employee may appear highly resilient because they continue to perform under difficult conditions. However, if achieving this requires them to constantly deplete their reserves, neglect their health, or feel unable to speak up, this is not sustainable.
Genuine mental resilience includes flexibility, self-regulation, the ability to learn, and the capacity to recover. It also involves the relationship with the team and the work environment: whether there is clarity, trust, time for recovery, and access to help when needed.
The Environment Is Part of the Equation
The World Health Organization’s guidelines on mental health at work include organizational interventions, training for managers and employees, as well as individual support. The underlying principle is important: prevention is not limited to strengthening the individual but also involves examining psychosocial risks within the work environment.
The international standard ISO 45003:2021 follows the same approach, providing guidance on managing psychosocial risks within an Occupational Health and Safety management system. Resilience, therefore, is not merely a personal skill. It is also an outcome of the way work is designed, managed, and experienced.
What Conditions Help People Recover?
- Clear roles and realistic priorities, so that uncertainty does not become a permanent state.
- Manageable workloads and genuine recovery time following demanding periods.
- A degree of autonomy in how work is carried out, where feasible.
- Managers who listen, recognize signs of pressure, and are able to temporarily adjust demands.
- Psychological safety, so that people can say “I don’t know,” “I need help,” or “I see a risk.”
- Access to appropriate tools, services, and professional support.
VASSIA’S PERSPECTIVE
“Resilience is not about enduring more and more. It is about having the resources, relationships, and environment that allow you to recover without becoming depleted.”
– Vassia Manika
What Is the Role of Training?
Training in stress management, self-regulation, awareness, and communication skills has an important role to play. It provides people with language, practices, and options they can use in their everyday lives. We do not need to dismiss it. We need to place it within the right context.
At the same time, managers do not need to act as psychologists. They need to understand the boundaries of their role, conduct safe conversations, recognize when referral is necessary, and be able to examine which aspects of the work may be placing additional strain on the team or helping to protect it.
An effective Workplace Wellbeing strategy supports the individual, the manager, and the system simultaneously. This is where resilience stops being a demand and becomes an organizational capability.
Let’s design a resilience program together that does not simply ask people to endure more. Contact ErgoProlipsis.
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About the Author
Vassia Manika is a Corporate Wellbeing Innovator, Clinical Dietitian-Nutritionist, Adult Educator, and Executive & Health Coach. With more than 20 years of experience working with people, teams, and organizations, she designs evidence-informed interventions that connect wellbeing with leadership, culture, and sustainable performance.
© Vassia Manika / ErgoProlipsis, 2026. Republishing is permitted only with clear attribution to the author and the original source, and with an active link.
