Why personal resilience now belongs on the UK boardroom agenda 

Opinion Piece, Natalie Shears, CEO The Well Crowd

Personal resilience is increasingly being recognised as a core driver of workplace wellbeing and organisational performance. New evidence suggests it is no longer an individual concern, but a strategic issue for UK employers navigating economic uncertainty, workforce pressure and rising health-related risk. 

The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Risks Report 2026 identifies inequality and social fragmentation as among the most significant threats facing economies over the next decade.¹ These risks are not confined to geopolitics or public policy. They are being felt directly inside organisations, as financial insecurity, mental health challenges and job uncertainty place sustained strain on working people. 

In the UK, these pressures are already visible. Mental health remains one of the leading causes of long-term sickness absence,²˒³ while presenteeism continues to rise as employees work while unwell. Financial anxiety, particularly around housing and retirement, is affecting engagement and retention across multiple sectors. At the same time, employers are operating in a tighter labour market, with limited headroom to absorb productivity loss or talent churn. 

Against this backdrop, WEF argues that personal resilience should move firmly onto the leadership agenda.¹˒⁷ Not as a soft skill or individual responsibility, but as a capability shaped by work design, culture and access to support. 

Personal resilience is often misunderstood as simply coping or “pushing through”. In reality, the evidence shows it is multidimensional. Social connection, financial security, physical health and psychological safety all influence how people respond to stress and disruption.⁴˒⁸ Resilience is less about endurance and more about adaptability: the ability to recover from setbacks, maintain clarity under pressure and sustain energy over time. 

Workplaces play a central role in shaping these conditions. How work is structured, how much control people have over their time, how performance is measured and how support is accessed all effect resilience. When organisations invest in environments that support these factors, the benefits extend beyond individual wellbeing to teams, communities and business outcomes.⁴˒⁸ 

The business case is increasingly well established. A 2025 meta-analysis covering almost 300 studies and more than 430,000 employees found a direct link between personal resilience and improved wellbeing.⁵ Separate academic research shows that higher wellbeing is associated with measurable organisational benefits, including improved productivity, stronger retention and enhanced financial performance.⁶ 

Productivity gains are one example. Research cited by the WEF shows that employees reporting higher happiness levels demonstrate significantly improved output.⁶˒⁷ Retention is another. Organisations with stronger wellbeing scores experience substantially lower employee turnover.⁴ At a market level, companies with consistently high wellbeing performance have outperformed major stock indices in recent years.⁹ 

For UK employers facing rising absence costs, skills shortages and pressure on margins, these findings matter.³˒⁴ They challenge the idea that wellbeing and resilience sit outside core business priorities. Healthier, more resilient employees are more likely to stay, perform and recover when pressure increases. 

The challenge lies in moving from intention to implementation. Building resilience requires understanding it. This is where many workplace approaches fall short. Too often, resilience is addressed through isolated training sessions or individual coping tools, without tackling the conditions that shape day-to-day experience at work.⁴˒⁸ 

At The Well Crowd, this gap is a recurring theme in conversations with HR and People leaders. There is growing recognition that resilience is shaped less by programmes and more by systems: job design, flexibility, workload, financial stability and access to credible support. Evidence-led practice, rather than trend-driven solutions, is what enables resilience to be sustained.⁴˒⁸ 

This aligns with the Forum’s emphasis on preparedness rather than reaction. As global and domestic risks intensify, resilience is no longer only about responding after crisis occurs. It is about reducing harm before stress becomes breakdown.¹˒⁷ For UK organisations, this means embedding resilience into everyday working life, not treating it as an add-on. 

It also raises important questions about measurement. Tracking absence alone tells only part of the story. Presenteeism, disengagement and attrition often carry a greater long-term cost. More sophisticated approaches look at how people experience work, where pressure accumulates and which groups are most exposed to risk.⁷˒⁹ 

WEF’s analysis makes clear that personal resilience is not a passing trend. It reflects deeper shifts in how work, health and risk intersect.¹˒⁷ For UK boards and senior leaders, the implication is clear. Personal resilience is no longer a peripheral wellbeing issue. It is a strategic concern that affects performance, sustainability and long-term value.⁹ 

As economic and social uncertainty continues to shape working life, the evidence points in one direction. Resilience is not something individuals should be left to manage alone. It is a workplace condition,²˒⁸ and one that now belongs firmly on the UK boardroom agenda. 

References  

1. World Economic Forum. The Global Risks Report 2026. Geneva: World Economic Forum; 2026. Available from: 
   https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-risks-report-2026/ 

2. Stevenson D, Farmer P. Thriving at Work: The Independent Review of Mental Health and Employers. London: Department for Work and Pensions; 2017. Available from: 
   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/thriving-at-work-the-stevensonfarmer-review 

3. Office for National Statistics. Sickness absence in the UK labour market: 2023. Newport: ONS; 2023. Available from: 
   https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity/articles/sicknessabsenceinthelabourmarket/2023 

4. Deloitte. Mental health and employers: The case for investment. London: Deloitte; 2024. Available from: 
   https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/consulting/articles/mental-health-and-employers.html 

5. Piepoli MF, et al. Personal resilience and employee wellbeing: a meta-analysis of observational and intervention studies. J Occup Health Psychol. 2025;30(1):1–18. Available from: 
   https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2025-00001-001 

6. De Neve JE, Ward G, De Keulenaer F, Van Landeghem B, Kavetsos G, Norton MI. Employee wellbeing, productivity and firm performance. Saïd Business School Working Paper. Oxford: University of Oxford; 2019. Available from: 
   https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2019-01/2019-01.pdf 

7. World Economic Forum. Why workplace wellbeing is the key to productivity. Geneva: World Economic Forum; 2023. Available from: 
   https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/01/workplace-wellbeing-productivity/ 

8. McKinsey Health Institute. The economics of wellbeing. London: McKinsey & Company; 2023. Available from: 
   https://www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insights/the-economics-of-wellbeing 

9. London Stock Exchange Group. Wellbeing and long-term value creation. London: LSEG; 2022. Available from: 
   https://www.lseg.com/en/sustainable-growth/wellbeing-and-long-term-value