Participation in mentally and physically demanding adventure training increases resilience in office workers. That is the central conclusion of research by Nicola Bass of the British Psychological Society’s Division of Occupational Psychology.
Bass commented, “Building resilience in office-based staff is an aim for organisations, and we were keen to investigate whether staff working in office environments but with potential access to demanding Army Adventurous Training are more resilient than their peers.”
A sample of 92 serving Regular and Reserve Army Officers currently working in office environments were recruited for the study, half of whom had participated in an adventurous training activity lasting for at least five days within the previous nine months.
Aged between 24 and 55, the participants completed a questionnaire that measured their levels of resilience, with the group who had recently participated in the training scoring significantly higher than those who had not.
Army Adventurous Training is designed to develop qualities such as leadership and teamwork through challenging outdoor activities, which can include canoeing, freefall parachuting and mountain biking.
Bass added, “Our research showed that recent participation in Army Adventurous Training can make staff currently working in an office environment more resilient. Building resilience with a view to increasing productivity is a hot topic for a number of organisations, and on the back of this research we would recommend that consideration should be given to sending staff on training that challenges them in this way.”
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
