Video tutorial: Tiina Hoffman of Firstbeat, discusses resilience through physical & mental wellbeing

Employee resilience can be boosted by helping staff to manage their physical and mental wellbeing, according to Tiina Hoffman, exercise physiologist and master trainer at Firstbeat.

The role of lifestyle is crucial within that, she explained to delegates at the REBA Employee Wellbeing Congress 2019. She highlighted a number of what she called key human performance indicators.

The first of these, sleep, is vital to perform better and improve wellbeing, she said. “Sleeping less than seven hours per night on a regular basis is associated with a whole range of physical and mental illnesses and conditions. If there is one thing we can do for ourselves and our staff it’s to highlight the importance of sleep.” Managing stress and getting fit were also key, she said.

Hoffman outlined the importance of monitoring and measuring stress, sleep, and relaxation and the benefits on employees of working with wellness coaches and the data collected to improve wellbeing. She also revealed the impact on a group level with a case study of a large UK bank her company had also worked with.

She said that employers had to ensure their people were recovering enough to stay resilient – something she called the ‘supercompensation of life’. “If we want to improve our life we need to find the balance between stress and recovery,” she said.

This video was recorded at the REBA Employee Wellbeing Congress 2019, held in London on 20 June.