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Organizations are keen to thwart cyberattacks and other disruptions – but they are failing to ensure that IT teams are flexible enough to cope with what is expected of them.
With high-profile cyber attacks occurring on a regular basis, all organizations are aware of the possibility that they will become a victim of an incident at some point.
The Missing Link Report from Zscaler and Positive Intelligence suggest that 45 percent of organizations have already experienced a failure scenario in the past six months, and 60 percent expect this to happen in the next six months.
But while organizations place a high priority on technological innovation and Zero Trust platforms to reduce the risk of being caught in an incident, they are overlooking another critical element: the resiliency of their own IT and security leaders and teams.
When a crisis occurs, it is important that the individuals who will be tasked with minimizing damage, protecting assets, and getting the organization back up and running as quickly as possible are in fit condition to do their jobs. This means being flexible enough to deal with pressure, and not running into any undue or avoidable stress elsewhere in your life.
However, Zscaler’s research shows that organizations don’t place enough emphasis on it. Only 37 percent explicitly measure personal resilience through employee surveys, and 29 percent do not measure it at all. It’s not surprising, then, that 51 percent don’t believe their employer cares about personal flexibility.
This is something that organizations should improve: 47 percent of IT professionals consider themselves only somewhat flexible or worse. This means that in a crisis situation almost half of IT staff will be struggling with their own issues, at a time when the organization really needs them.
What’s worse, the lack of flexibility is often due to work-related issues. Four in 10 (40 percent) say concerns about IT disruptions spill over into their personal lives and 27 percent say their workload and day-to-day pressures have a negative impact on their personal resilience.
But half of IT professionals believe their organizations are not aware of the day-to-day stresses in their working lives, and 43 percent do not believe their organizations recognize the connection between personal resiliency and overall business resiliency.
There are some steps organizations can take to improve the individual resiliency of their IT teams. First, leaders need to focus on their own resilience so that they can lead by example. This starts with understanding the blocks that can limit resilience, including traits like self-doubt, hypervigilance, perfectionism, or avoiding dealing with problems.
Effective training can help overcome these, teaching the mind to respond to issues with clarity, creativity and calmness. This can be achieved through simple mental fitness exercises that can identify negative elements and promote emotional control and empathy.
Developing personal resilience can also enhance individuals’ own leadership abilities, reduce stress and improve the ability to make decisions under pressure. The study, conducted by PQ, a global community of leaders, found that after seven weeks of mental fitness training, 98 percent of people experienced improved emotional intelligence, 92 percent performed better in teamwork and collaboration, and 84 percent demonstrated better conflict management skills.
The next step is for leaders to apply the same approach to their broader teams. A good start is for them to document their journey and share it with staff, which will help send the message that this is something that will benefit everyone.
It is particularly important that managers develop their resilience, and that they can also ensure that their teams are coping. Train managers to recognize signs of stress and encourage them to respond with support.
Teams can also be supported in how they will approach a crisis from an individual perspective, so that they are better prepared when one arises. Encourage managers and leaders to stay calm and communicate clearly, and develop scripts or quick-response protocols they can call upon in certain situations. Role-playing high-pressure situations can ensure that people are less likely to panic, and should also include the use of mindfulness or rapid-reset techniques as part of the simulation cooldown.
It is also important to take care of the resilience of employees during the crisis. Employees often work long hours during events, which can lead to fatigue, so make sure they are rotated regularly. After an incident, make sure teams are given time to decompress and recover from the incident.
Leaders must also drive changes in the broader company culture, so that employees are better equipped to deal with any pressures that come their way. Design job roles and work patterns so that no one is irreplaceable, and provide access to tools like breathing apps, peer support hotlines, and recovery coaches, as well as guidance in sleep, nutrition, and energy management.
Also ensure that the concept of personal flexibility is understood by everyone and is embedded in the way the organization operates. Measure the resilience of teams and regularly benchmark it against previous surveys to assess how well employees are performing and identify any potential problems.
The message from the research is clear: leaders who invest in increasing their own and their teams’ resilience will be in a stronger position to deal with any event. This, in turn, will ensure that the organization can recover faster, and get back to business, with less financial and reputational damage.
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To access Zscaler’s The Missing Links report, click Here,